TIAA Trust National Association Cuts Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

TIAA Trust National Association cut its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 356 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Unilever were worth $607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 155.2% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 5,117 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,193,000 after acquiring an additional 9,528 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Unilever during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,694,000. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its position in Unilever by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Unilever Price Performance

UL stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.33. The company has a market capitalization of $145.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.4674 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Unilever’s payout ratio is presently 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.