NYSE:UL
Unilever PLC (UL)
59.98
+0.28 (0.47%)
as of Oct 5, 2026, 8:00:00 pm Market Open.
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Financials 
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She's owned this for many years. It gives emerging market exposure which account for 60% of sales. Their growth has lagged, because the food division is lower growth while Covid has made growth uneven by country. This trades at a discount to Nestle, but offers higher growth. Making an acquisition will raise their debt, which is a concern. She's waiting and seeing as they sell their lower-growth businesses. They could sell their food business. Pays around a 3.7% dividend.
Christine PooleOwned
food processing
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Dec 14/20, Down 5%) Some of their product categories are price-sensitive. Their exposure to emerging markets will see later on strong secular growth than developed markets. EM markets have had a tough time containing Covid, so their recoveries have lagged, impacting UL. Also, higher costs in transportation and raw materials is another headwind. UL has raised prices to offset these issues, but also some volumes have softened. They are re-positioning by selling weaker divisions and expanding further into personal care, but this will all take time. Pays over a 3% dividend.
Christine PooleOwned
food processing
DON'T BUY
UL vs. NSRGY Challenged. Mature consumer staples businesses are trying to hold onto market share, revenue growth isn't great, financial engineering helps the bottom line. Prefers Nestle. Buying the leader is often better than buying the catch-up trade. Nestle is holding or gaining market share in 60% of its categories. Exposed to high growth areas like pet food, nutrition, and coffee.
food processing
WEAK BUY
UL vs. PG Canadians can't ignore the Chinese and Indian markets. They do have political risk, but they will be delivering meaningful prosperity, so ignore that at your peril. PG had a very tough time after the global financial crisis. Still a great company and continues to do well, has outperformed UL. UL is going through changes, and these could lead to outperformance over PG. If you want safe and steady bond proxies, these are the types of companies you want to be thinking about.
food processing
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Premium contentTOP PICK
Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly UL, one of the world's largest personal care companies with sales over $61 billion, is reiterated as a TOP PICK. It provides diversification to the European marketplace and emerging markets. It recently paid down $1.2 billion in debt and bought back over $800 million in shares and still has cash reserves estimated over $4 billion. It trades at 19x earnings, compared to peers over 40x. It pays a strong dividend, backed by a payout ratio under 75% of cash flow. We would buy this with a stop loss at $50, looking to achieve $68 -- upside potential of about 25%. Yield 3.71% (Analysts’ price target is $68.00)
food processing
BUY
About 25% of revenue comes from China and India, and the E.U. won't defend UL against those countries, because UL is a British company. How to deal with this geopolitical risk? He invests in EM indirectly, for instance through UL or a BNS (Latin America). UL is a huge business and they're trying to cut costs, partly prodded by activists. He likes their product portfolio and their presence in emerging markets. Their subsidiaries are well-entrenched, so that lowers risk in EMs. Also, they sell essential products whereas government crackdowns in China have hit fintech and data companies. UL trades around 18x earnings and pays a solid dividend.
Chris BlumasOwned
food processing
DON'T BUY
It is a fine company. It is a portfolio of products that could change over time. Management could optimize their portfolio over time. You will be well rewarded as a dividend play. Inflation will have to be passed on to consumers.
Darren SissonsOwned
food processing
Premium contentTOP PICK
Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly UL is one of the world's largest personal care companies with sales over $61 billion. It provides diversification to the European marketplace and reports that over 50% of sales now come from emerging markets. Cash reserves are estimated to have grown by over $1.3 billion, to exceed $5.4 billion. It trades at 21x earnings, compared to peers over 50x. It pays a strong dividend, backed by a 72% payout ratio. We would buy this with a stop loss at $50, looking to achieve $70 -- upside potential of about 16%. Yield 3.3% (Analysts’ price target is $70.00)
food processing
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Apr 21/20, Up 20%) Solid dividend grower. Long-term steady-eddy. Not a grand slam home run, but should provide well above average growth over the long haul.
Lorne SteinbergOwned
food processing
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Apr 01/20, Up 18%) Most people have 1 to 10 of their products in their house. This was a great way to be defensive and it did quite well for the first 9 months. There has been a sell off recently. They are a great way to play emerging markets. The fiscal stimulus there has not been the same as in the first world. The expectation is that going forward they will return to their old growth. It's an important part of a portfolio.
food processing
BUY ON WEAKNESS
Allan Tong’s Discover Picks The UL stock pays a safe 3.47% dividend at a payout ratio of 76%, and it trades at a PE of 21.78x. At $55, UL stock is currently exchanging hands below its 50-day moving average of $58.71 and its 200-day of $60.02. A real bargain stock. This mega conglomerate trades on several exchanges, but the most accessible for North Americans is the NYSE listing under ticker UL stock. Read 3 Bargain Stocks: Eli Lilly, Unilever & Apple for our full analysis.
Stockchase DiscoverOwned
food processing
BUY ON WEAKNESS
Really likes it. A defensive holding. Global with a good emerging markets footprint. They have now unified their listing. Cashflow is durable. The dividend is attractive. Trading at 19x forward earnings. A little expensive so wait for pullback.
Chris BlumasOwned
food processing
TOP PICK
60% of its revenues come from emerging markets and this is where the growth comes from. They have been increasing exposure to personal care which garners higher margins. They are relatively defensive. (Analysts’ price target is $65.50)
Christine PooleOwned
food processing
BUY
Global conglomerate in consumer packaged goods. More than half of sales come from emerging markets, with significant growth in India and China. Domiciled in the UK. Excellent example of a way to invest in China. International exposure, less volatility than smaller names. Has held up well during Covid. Low dividend increases, but still growing and moving in the right direction.
food processing
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