Certior Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Certior Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Unilever by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 19,489 shares of the company's stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company's stock worth $217,191,000 after purchasing an additional 327,329 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Unilever by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 296,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,793,000 after buying an additional 119,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Unilever during the 4th quarter worth about $587,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Unilever from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.33.

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Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.88. 3,906,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,614,606. The company has a market cap of $153.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.85.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.4674 dividend. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Unilever's payout ratio is 53.01%.

Unilever 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.