Bank of Montreal Can Has $118.59 Million Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,812,164 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 63,835 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.07% of Unilever worth $118,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Unilever by 7.1% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,726,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,086,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,177 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,384,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,145,000 after purchasing an additional 911,443 shares during the period. Saratoga Research & Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,767,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,169,000 after buying an additional 22,325 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,667,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,273,000 after buying an additional 194,165 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Unilever by 1,866.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,135,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,451,000 after buying an additional 2,027,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Unilever to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Unilever Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:UL opened at $59.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.73. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $46.46 and a 52-week high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.4755 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

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.