M&T Bank Corp Grows Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 654,910 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,392 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Unilever were worth $37,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,454,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378,517 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,008,000 after acquiring an additional 207,549 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,169,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,993,000 after acquiring an additional 36,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Unilever by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,812,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,588,000 after acquiring an additional 63,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:UL opened at $57.99 on Wednesday. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $46.46 and a twelve month high of $65.87. The firm has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.62 and a 200-day moving average of $59.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.33.

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.