Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Purchases 8,676 Shares of Unilever PLC $UL

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 450,494 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,676 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $27,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 16.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,661,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,501,000 after purchasing an additional 937,346 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Unilever by 13.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,403,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,915,000 after buying an additional 406,610 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 11.6% during the second quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,722,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,690,000 after buying an additional 282,076 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 674.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,208,000 after buying an additional 2,433,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in Unilever by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,996,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,057,000 after buying an additional 46,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Unilever from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morningstar lowered shares of Unilever to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.37.

Unilever Trading Up 2.3%

Unilever stock opened at $66.16 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.46. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $54.75 and a 52-week high of $74.97.

Unilever (NYSE:UL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($1.25). The company had revenue of $14.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.80 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Unilever PLC will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Unilever Profile

Unilever PLC is a global consumer goods company headquartered in London, England. It develops, manufactures and markets branded products across beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care and nutrition. Its portfolio includes widely recognized brands such as Dove, Vaseline, Axe, Rexona, Cif, Domestos, Knorr, Hellmann’s and Magnum, although product availability varies by market.

The company’s products are sold through supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, e-commerce platforms and other retail channels in countries around the world.