Unilever PLC $UL Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 18.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,049 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 950 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Unilever in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unilever in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Unilever by 209.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the second quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the first quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Trading Up 0.1%

Unilever stock opened at $58.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $143.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.60. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $54.32 and a 52 week high of $65.66.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.5175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.