TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Raises Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,872 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Unilever by 187.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 55,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after buying an additional 35,986 shares during the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC raised its position in Unilever by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 67,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 6,747 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 254,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,435,000 after purchasing an additional 42,351 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Unilever by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,103,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,345,000 after purchasing an additional 250,053 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 965,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,757,000 after buying an additional 70,221 shares during the period. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on UL shares. StockNews.com cut Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Trading Down 0.8 %

UL stock opened at $63.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day moving average of $58.86. The company has a market cap of $157.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a 12-month low of $50.28 and a 12-month high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.4674 dividend. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.