Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Buys 119,438 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 67.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,176 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,438 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $16,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UL. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Unilever by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 6,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 9,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Unilever by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 5,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Unilever by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unilever Stock Down 3.8 %

UL opened at $60.16 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.08. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87. The stock has a market cap of $149.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is 53.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.