VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Buys Shares of 500 Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,454,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378,517 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter worth about $176,806,000. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,008,000 after purchasing an additional 207,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,169,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,993,000 after purchasing an additional 36,922 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $59.26 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.57. The company has a market capitalization of $147.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.