Norges Bank Takes Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,709,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $153,606,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.11% of Unilever at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unilever in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Unilever during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Unilever in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL traded down $2.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,043,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,686,244. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.16.

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 given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Unilever's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.