Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 555 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,275 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.7% during the fourth 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 grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 155.2% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,117 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,193,000 after purchasing an additional 9,528 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,694,000. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unilever Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $58.64 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $46.46 and a twelve month high of $65.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.28 and its 200-day moving average is $59.49. The stock has a market cap of $145.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.4674 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Unilever’s payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UL. DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Unilever presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.