Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Takes Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Capital Group LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 28,565.8% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,786,000 after buying an additional 128,546 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,211,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,203,000. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Unilever by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 54,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the period.

Shares of NYSE:UL traded up $0.88 on Tuesday, reaching $55.19. The company had a trading volume of 163,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,167,824. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $44.06 and a 52-week high of $63.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.44.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 26th will be issued a $0.5139 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 25th. This is an increase from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.99%.

Separately, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Unilever presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC, together with its subsidiaries, operates in the fast-moving consumer goods industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Beauty & Personal Care, Foods & Refreshment, and Home Care. The Beauty & Personal Care segment offers skin care and hair care products, deodorants, and skin cleansing products under the Axe, Clear, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond's, Rexona, Signal, Suave, Sunsilk, TRESemmé, and Vaseline brands.

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