Certior Financial Group LLC Makes New $331,000 Investment in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 19,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,191,000 after acquiring an additional 327,329 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 296,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,793,000 after acquiring an additional 119,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the 4th quarter worth $587,000. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unilever Stock Down 3.8 %

UL stock opened at $60.16 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.05. The company has a market cap of $149.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a 12-month low of $46.46 and a 12-month high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Unilever’s payout ratio is 53.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.