Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 250,053 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,103,075 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 250,053 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.21% of Unilever worth $289,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $176,806,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at $153,606,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Unilever by 140.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,883,000 after buying an additional 2,170,242 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $195,881,000 after buying an additional 1,378,517 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Unilever by 7.3% during 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 during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. StockNews.com downgraded Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Unilever currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Price Performance

UL opened at $63.79 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $47.55 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.01%.

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.