Sage Rhino Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,938 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UL. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 423.8% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unilever during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.79. The stock had a trading volume of 3,097,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,818,464. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.16 and a 1-year high of $65.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.06. The company has a market cap of $162.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.46.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.4773 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on UL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Unilever from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Unilever from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of Unilever to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of Unilever from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Unilever presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.75.

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.