Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $3.97 Million Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,107 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,475 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Unilever were worth $3,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Unilever by 26.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,384,944 shares of the company's stock worth $241,145,000 after purchasing an additional 911,443 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Unilever by 19.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,132,640 shares of the company's stock worth $207,416,000 after purchasing an additional 668,913 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp raised its position in shares of Unilever by 107.1% during the first quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,910,751 shares of the company's stock worth $146,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,233 shares during the period. Saratoga Research & Investment Management raised its position in shares of Unilever by 0.8% during the second quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,767,207 shares of the company's stock worth $152,169,000 after purchasing an additional 22,325 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Unilever by 1,866.0% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,135,859 shares of the company's stock worth $117,451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UL. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America upgraded Unilever from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen began coverage on Unilever in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Unilever to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.75.

Unilever Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE UL traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,184,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,441. The company has a market capitalization of $157.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.68. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $46.16 and a twelve month high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.4773 dividend. This is a positive change from Unilever's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Unilever's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.65%.

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.