Two Sigma Securities LLC Acquires New Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Unilever by 77.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,025,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Unilever during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,310,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Unilever during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,756,000. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its position in Unilever by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 39,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of UL opened at $62.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $51.34 and a twelve month high of $65.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.83.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.5151 per share. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.