Bridgewater Associates LP Invests $440,000 in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unilever by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 20,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in Unilever by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 70,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,977,000 after buying an additional 20,795 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 387,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,990,000 after buying an additional 21,321 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at $351,000. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 29,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on UL. StockNews.com cut shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $63.79 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $47.55 and a 52-week high of $65.87. 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.78.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.4674 dividend. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is 53.01%.

About Unilever

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.