Chicago Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Unilever PLC $UL

Chicago Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 50.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,406 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Unilever by 13.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,100,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,054 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,925,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,787,000 after buying an additional 95,359 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,340,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,911,000 after buying an additional 221,958 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 3,070,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,870,000 after buying an additional 195,931 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Unilever by 4.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,260,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,591,000 after acquiring an additional 93,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UL has been the subject of several analyst reports. CICC Research assumed coverage on Unilever in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE UL opened at $59.26 on Wednesday. Unilever PLC has a one year low of $54.32 and a one year high of $65.66. The firm has a market cap of $145.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.61.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.5175 dividend. This represents a $2.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.31%.

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.