Abel Hall LLC Makes New Investment in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter worth about $867,000. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 366,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,767,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter worth about $270,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,041,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UL. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Unilever from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Unilever from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Unilever from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE UL traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $56.22. 3,479,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,327,601. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.10. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.16 and a fifty-two week high of $56.46.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $0.4556 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th.

Unilever Company Profile

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements.