Short Interest in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) Declines By 16.6%

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 56,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 26.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,384,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,145,000 after acquiring an additional 911,443 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.6% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 43,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Unilever during the second quarter worth $454,000. Finally, Financial & Tax Architects LLC increased its position in Unilever by 27.8% during the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 9,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Unilever Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Unilever stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.68. 3,801,419 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,047,655. Unilever has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.28.

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 dividend of $0.4755 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

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.