Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $5,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Unilever by 111.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 552 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Unilever during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Unilever during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Unilever by 215.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 586 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Unilever during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on UL. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Unilever from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Unilever from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Unilever from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Unilever has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of Unilever stock traded down $0.33 on Thursday, reaching $55.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,362,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,778,341. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.56. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.16 and a fifty-two week high of $56.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.4556 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th.

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.