Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 2,085 Shares of Unilever PLC $UL

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,059 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Unilever were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,673,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,421,054 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 95,359 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 221,958 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Unilever by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,260,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,591,000 after acquiring an additional 93,677 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Unilever in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Unilever Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $59.04 on Monday. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $54.32 and a twelve month high of $65.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.62. The company has a market capitalization of $144.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.40.

Unilever Increases Dividend

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