Unilever PLC $UL Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,247,467 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,630 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Unilever worth $73,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Unilever during the 2nd quarter worth about $144,979,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Unilever by 13,906.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,268,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252,105 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,578,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,319,966,000 after buying an additional 1,989,631 shares during the period. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new position in shares of Unilever during the third quarter worth about $82,461,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 78.8% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,933,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,261,000 after buying an additional 852,099 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UL. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Unilever and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Unilever currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.55.

Unilever Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE UL opened at $66.81 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.27. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $61.78 and a 12 month high of $74.97.

Unilever (NYSE:UL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($1.00). The company had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.39 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Unilever PLC will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.5547 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th.

Unilever Profile

Unilever PLC is a global consumer goods company with roots dating back to the early 20th century, formed from the merger of the British firm Lever Brothers and the Dutch company Margarine Unie. The company develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded products in personal care, home care and foods and refreshments. Unilever’s corporate structure and listings reflect its long history in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and it operates at scale across diverse consumer markets worldwide.

Unilever’s business is organized around major product categories—Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care and Foods & Refreshment—and includes numerous well-known consumer brands across those categories.