Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) Short Interest Down 16.6% in December

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, a drop of 16.6% from the December 15th total of 3,010,000 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unilever

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Unilever by 981.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,076,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,216 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Unilever by 249.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,748,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,204,000 after buying an additional 1,248,136 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Unilever by 598.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,301,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,992 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Unilever by 7.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 493.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,105,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,785,000 after acquiring an additional 918,841 shares during the period. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unilever presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE UL opened at $55.50 on Friday. Unilever has a twelve month low of $46.46 and a twelve month high of $65.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.31.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.4755 dividend. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%.

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.