Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Unilever Call Options (NYSE:UL)

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 4,544 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 299% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,138 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.33.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $60.16 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.12. Unilever has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.01%.

Institutional Trading of Unilever

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Unilever in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Unilever during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

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.