Chase Investment Counsel Corp Cuts Stock Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lowered its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 495 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Unilever were worth $302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,293,000 after purchasing an additional 515,088 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Unilever by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,748,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,734 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,819,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,664,000 after purchasing an additional 67,190 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Unilever by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,454,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,654,000 after purchasing an additional 72,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 3,332,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,582,000 after purchasing an additional 47,256 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Unilever Price Performance

NYSE UL opened at $51.50 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.16 and a 1-year high of $55.77.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.4556 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.83%.

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.