Hilltop National Bank Purchases New Holdings in Unilever PLC $UL

Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 8,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Unilever by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 934,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,668,000 after buying an additional 232,945 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Unilever by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,100,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,381,000 after buying an additional 3,421,054 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Unilever by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 14,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 5,867 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Unilever by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 232,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,821,000 after buying an additional 91,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in Unilever by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 15,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on UL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Saturday, September 27th. CICC Research began coverage on Unilever in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Unilever Price Performance

UL opened at $59.04 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $54.32 and a 12 month high of $65.66. The stock has a market cap of $144.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.59.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.5175 per share. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Unilever’s payout ratio is 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.