RD Lewis Holdings Inc. Buys New Shares in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 5,117 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,193,000 after acquiring an additional 9,528 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Unilever in the third quarter worth about $11,694,000. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 6,404 shares during the period. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Price Performance

NYSE:UL opened at $59.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $46.46 and a 1 year high of $65.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.62.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.4674 dividend. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s payout ratio is 53.01%.

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.