Unilever PLC $UL Stake Lowered by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 885,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,619 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Unilever were worth $57,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 15,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 4,501 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 378,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,141,000 after purchasing an additional 156,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 427,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,155,000 after purchasing an additional 63,376 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UL. Weiss Ratings downgraded Unilever from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus raised shares of Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.55.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE UL opened at $58.68 on Tuesday. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $54.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.65.

Unilever (NYSE:UL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($1.00). The business had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.39 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Unilever PLC will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5449 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%.

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.