Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Trims Stock Position in Unilever PLC $UL

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. trimmed its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,163 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,829 shares during the quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $5,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,665,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,973,000 after buying an additional 2,935,227 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Unilever in the second quarter valued at approximately $144,979,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Unilever by 13,906.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,268,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252,105 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Unilever by 10.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,578,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,319,966,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,631 shares during the period. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new position in Unilever in the third quarter worth approximately $82,461,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Unilever from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Kepler Capital Markets cut Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $71.00 price objective on Unilever and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $60.10 price objective on shares of Unilever and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.55.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $59.80 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $59.75 and a 52-week high of $74.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.53.

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

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.5547 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%.

About Unilever

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.