St. James Investment Company LLC Sells 30,991 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

St. James Investment Company LLC cut its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 645,946 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,991 shares during the period. Unilever comprises about 6.3% of St. James Investment Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. St. James Investment Company LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $36,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Auxano Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Unilever by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 5,117 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Unilever by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,193,000 after buying an additional 9,528 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unilever during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,694,000. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.33.

Unilever Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of UL opened at $59.18 on Monday. Unilever PLC has a 12-month low of $46.46 and a 12-month high of $65.87. The stock has a market cap of $146.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.21.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

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.