Advisory Research Inc. Has $6.36 Million Holdings in Unilever PLC $UL

Advisory Research Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,227 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,450 shares during the quarter. Advisory Research Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $6,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Unilever in the 2nd quarter valued at $144,979,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Unilever by 13,906.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,268,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252,105 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Unilever by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,578,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,319,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,631 shares in the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in Unilever during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $82,461,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Unilever by 78.8% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,933,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,261,000 after buying an additional 852,099 shares during the period. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. DZ Bank cut shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $60.10 price objective on Unilever and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Unilever has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.55.

Unilever Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $64.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.15. Unilever PLC has a one year low of $61.78 and a one year high of $74.97.

Unilever (NYSE:UL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($1.00). The company had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.39 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Unilever PLC will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.5547 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%.

Unilever Company Profile

Unilever PLC is a global consumer goods company with roots dating back to the early 20th century, formed from the merger of the British firm Lever Brothers and the Dutch company Margarine Unie. The company develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded products in personal care, home care and foods and refreshments. Unilever’s corporate structure and listings reflect its long history in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and it operates at scale across diverse consumer markets worldwide.

Unilever’s business is organized around major product categories—Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care and Foods & Refreshment—and includes numerous well-known consumer brands across those categories.