Short Interest in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) Increases By 18.5%

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,110,000 shares, a growth of 18.5% from the February 13th total of 1,780,000 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UL has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. 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. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unilever

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UL. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Unilever by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,906,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,317,000 after acquiring an additional 257,538 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Unilever by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,103,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,345,000 after acquiring an additional 250,053 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Unilever by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,191,000 after acquiring an additional 327,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,242 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $58.70 on Wednesday. Unilever has a one year low of $46.46 and a one year high of $65.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.