UL - Unilever PLC
| Previous close | 60.45 |
| Open | 60.91 |
| Bid | 61.43 x 1400 |
| Ask | 61.46 x 900 |
| Day's range | 60.89 - 61.46 |
| 52-week range | 50.80 - 64.84 |
| Volume | 394,447 |
| Avg. volume | 651,848 |
| Market cap | 161.69B |
| Beta (3Y monthly) | 0.43 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 24.27 |
| EPS (TTM) | 2.53 |
| Earnings date | N/A |
| Forward dividend & yield | 1.83 (3.03%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 2019-08-08 |
| 1y target est | 70.00 |
- Reuters - UK Focus
Unilever reveals global tea suppliers in drive for slave-free sourcing
Consumer goods giant Unilever released a list of its global tea suppliers on Thursday, bolstering a drive to stamp out worker exploitation and modern-day slavery on plantations. The move by the Anglo-Dutch food group - which buys 10% of the world's tea supply and owns at least a dozen major brands from PG Tips to Lipton - followed a charity campaign that successfully saw Britain's six top tea firms reveal such data. The campaign by advocacy group Traidcraft Exchange began last year to improve working conditions and pay in Assam, India, where research by activists and academics has shown many tea pickers are paid below minimum wage and live in poverty.
- Fool.co.uk
No-deal Brexit? I think these two shares could still perform well
With the UK drawing ever closer to a no-deal Brexit, I think these two shares could surprise investors.
- Bloomberg
Naspers Unit Soars in Debut to Close Discount With Tencent
(Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.Naspers Ltd.’s newly listed internet unit received an enthusiastic early response from investors, soaring on its trading debut to close a valuation discount to its biggest investment, Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.Prosus NV, as the new Amsterdam-listed company is known, jumped as much as 32% in early trading to value the business at about 125 billion euros ($138 billion). The group’s 31% stake in WeChat creator Tencent is worth about $131 billion, the result of a timely investment made almost two decades ago.The investor reaction is an early vindication of the strategy masterminded by Naspers Chief Executive Officer Bob van Dijk, who took the helm of the Cape Town-based company five years ago. His plan to carve out Prosus into a new listing in Amsterdam was designed to attract a more global investor base and realize more value, while weakening the group’s dominance over the Johannesburg stock exchange.The move to Euronext is “to facilitate our next phase of growth,” Van Dijk said in an interview with Bloomberg TV just after the market opened. Prosus’s classified-ads business is the largest in the world, while the group also sees fast expansion in internet payments, food delivery and online trading in second-hand goods, he said.While the discount to Tencent was all but wiped out, the firm is still trading below the sum of its parts when you add other assets, including shareholdings in Russia’s Mail.Ru Group Ltd. and Delivery Hero SE of Germany. Van Dijk’s next challenge will be to generate higher returns from those investments and prove that Prosus isn’t merely a proxy for holding Tencent stock.“Our next step will be to bed down and invest in our core business units,” Chief Financial Officer Basil Sgourdos said by phone.Shares in Prosus -- a Latin word meaning ‘forwards’ -- declined slightly after the early surge. The value as of 11:28 a.m. in Amsterdam was 121 billion euros, making it the third-largest publicly traded company in the Netherlands, behind Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Unilever NV. Its market value rivals that of Europe’s biggest tech company, Germany’s SAP SE.Naspers is retaining a 73% stake in Prosus, and will keep hold of South African businesses including the newspapers that form the basis of the company’s origins a century ago. Its stock rose in Johannesburg, trading 5.4% higher as of 11:28 a.m. local time.“Naspers has been looking to unlock value in the steep discount applied to its Tencent holding and the successful listing of Prosus today has certainly gone some way to achieving that target,” said Neil Campling, an analyst at Mirabaud Securities. “Prosus is not only the Tencent holding though.”(Updates with CFO comment in sixth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Swetha Gopinath, Anna Edwards, Matthew Miller and Kit Rees.To contact the reporters on this story: Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net;John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Pfeiffer at tpfeiffer3@bloomberg.net, Jennifer RyanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-UK bluechips give up gains as sterling strengthens
London's FTSE 100 fell on Monday as the pound ploughed ahead after unexpectedly robust economic data and as no-deal Brexit worries tempered, leaving internationally-focussed stocks in the dumps. The blue-chip index lost 0.6%, shedding earlier gains and lagging its European peers, due to steep falls in pharmaceutical shares AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline , and consumer goods giant Unilever. The FTSE 250 index dipped 0.1%, though losses were limited thanks to a 10.4% surge in Intu Properties after the Times reported that private equity firm Orion Capital Managers was looking to buy the shopping centre operator.
- Fool.co.uk
One stock I’d buy and one I’d avoid if there’s a no-deal Brexit
The potential costs of a no-deal Brexit are great, but not all UK stocks should be avoided.
- Simply Wall St.
Unilever Group (AMS:UNA) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet
Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility...
- Yahoo Finance
Walmart's move to restrict guns 'should provide an added value to the company': consultant
Walmart and Kroger took bold steps to restrict guns and ammunition.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-FTSE 100 soars as election talk knocks sterling
London's FTSE 100 surged 1% on Monday, shrugging off news of the latest U.S.-China trade tariffs, as exporter stocks firmed following a slide in sterling on the prospect of an election against the backdrop of Brexit. The main index hit its highest in nearly a month, partly boosted by AstraZeneca, which rose 3% to an all-time high after separate trials showed its drugs helped patients with cardiovascular conditions. The mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.5%, though trading volumes on both UK indexes were thin due to a U.S. market holiday.
- Fool.co.uk
2 FTSE 100 dividend growth shares I’d buy in a Stocks and Shares ISA today
These two FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) shares could produce high returns when purchased in a Stocks and Shares ISA in my opinion.
- Fool.co.uk
2 FTSE 100 dividend growth stocks I’m planning to own forever
These FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) income growth stocks are the perfect picks for a retirement portfolio says Rupert Hargreaves.
- Bloomberg
The Stock Market Has Become a Very Liberal Place
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Wall Street was a very conservative place politically when I started working in the capital markets in 1999, but it seems to have lurched to the left lately. It’s not only that many of the people who work there have become more liberal, but more importantly, left-leaning behavior by publicly traded companies is being rewarded by the stock market.The decision by the Business Roundtable, which is an organization led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, to explicitly state that the purpose of a publicly traded company is social responsibility and not creating value for shareholders is just the latest example of this lurch to the left. For decades, most public companies have chosen to remain politically neutral. That remained the case even after the Citizens United Supreme Court decision on campaign finance in 2010 that held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations. Most expected the Citizens United decision to result in conservative political speech, but it has been quite the opposite. Ben and Jerry’s, a unit of Unilever Plc, recently launched a flavor of ice cream designed specifically to support Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign.Nike Inc.’s shares are up about 36% since the start of 2018, compared with 9.20% for the S&P 500 Index, despite backlash from some conservative outlets for signing controversial former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick to a marketing deal and then bowing to pressure from the left and pulling its special edition sneakers featuring the “Betsy Ross Flag” that some feel was a symbol of racism. I was recently in a Nike outlet store here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and it was packed with a checkout line 30 people deep in the middle of summer.The technology sector leans to the left, led by Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., whose Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post. Many consumers may complain about the liberal orientation of these companies, but there is not a lot they can do to avoid them. Sure, share prices of tech firms have stalled lately, but that’s more likely due to the threat of antitrust action than a reflection of their political orientation.The list of companies who have engaged in left-leaning speech, marketing or protest is getting long. The list of actions include pulling advertising from various Fox News programs, supporting the Women’s March, pulling products related to President Donald Trump from stores and banks dropping business with the certain gun makers. There have been few consequences, and no serious boycotts of these companies by conservatives, or at least none have been effective. Conservative media outlets had some fun with Procter & Gamble Co.’s $8 billion charge for Gillette, attributing it to backlash from an ad campaign asking men to “do better.” But the razor business has been bad for a while, with competitive threats coming from all sides. And more men are growing beards these days, so one is probably not related to the other.Corporate America may have declared a political orientation for strategic reasons. Companies today have more data and information than ever on their customers. What works for Nike may not work for Bass Pro Shops.Then there’s the waterfall of money that is earmarked for environment, social and governance, or ESG, investing strategies. It is the only form of active management that seems to be gathering assets even with a mixed track record when it comes to returns. The idea here is that companies engaging in socially responsible behavior should be rewarded by the stock market, but that isn’t always true. Indexing is widely considered to be a left-wing philosophy, the idea that you would invest in all companies equally, instead of trying to pick the best stocks. It has even famously been called worse than Marxism by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. As everyone knows, index fund assets have been growing at an astronomical pace. By some estimates, passive strategies now make up 40% to 50% of all assets under management, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Even actively managed funds with great performance are losing assets.We’ve come a long way from suspender-snapping, bull and bear cufflinks and “lunch is for wimps.” Back then, the idea that you would invest your money and not seek the highest return would have seemed odd.I assume that decisions to engage in political speech are carefully considered by managements, but I still find it disconcerting. I’m from a generation that grew up believing the job of a public company was to “make money,” not “do good.” When they both align, then great, but what hasn’t changed is that people still like to see the value of their investments go up every year.To contact the author of this story: Jared Dillian at j.dillian@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Robert Burgess at bburgess@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Jared Dillian is the editor and publisher of The Daily Dirtnap, investment strategist at Mauldin Economics, and the author of "Street Freak" and "All the Evil of This World." He may have a stake in the areas he writes about.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Spanish Uber Rival Eyes Supermarkets as Consolidation Looms
(Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.A Spanish startup best known for delivering takeaways is betting on building a network of convenience stores to expand its business -- just as the food delivery sector eyes a wave of consolidation.Glovo, a Barcelona-based web platform used mainly for ordering food from restaurants, is rolling-out so-called dark-supermarkets -- delivery-only convenience stores -- from Tbilisi to Lisbon in an attempt to tap into growing web-based demand for groceries.The company is also focusing on delivering groceries for existing supermarket chains. In May it announced a deal with Carrefour SA to handle their deliveries in under 30 minutes in four countries, and it has similar partnerships in different countries with Walmart Inc., Auchan Holding Sadir and Kaufland Stiftung & Co KG, among others.Glovo drew preliminary interest from Uber Technologies Inc. and Deliveroo, Bloomberg reported in August. The startup is in 180 cities spread across 24 countries, according to its website.But the company is increasingly marketing itself as an "app for anything" that allows users to request a rider -- as the delivery staff, who mainly ride bicycles, are known -- to buy any product. With this function, a user can send a rider to any store to pick up a product and the price is charged directly to the user’s credit card, together with a fixed service fee.Competitors are increasingly moving into delivering groceries alongside restaurant-delivery. Uber Eats has piloted delivery goods from Nestle and Unilever, and said in July that it’s in discussions with European supermarkets to roll out a grocery delivery service. Amazon.com Inc. is growing its grocery store delivery operations in several countries including Spain, one of its first markets.Germany’s Delivery Hero SE is already offering transport of consumer items such as groceries and toiletries in 12 markets and plans to raise that number in the coming months, Chief Executive Officer Niklas Oestberg said last month.Demand for online groceries in Europe’s largest economies set to grow by about 60% between 2018 and 2023, to more than $45.1 billion, according to estimates compiled by Delta Partners, a consultancy.Unlike online grocery shoppers such as U.K.’s Ocado Group Plc, which delivers weekly purchases the following day, Glovo is targeting small baskets at speed. Such deliveries are simply the latest twist in the “anything" strategy, according to co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Oscar Pierre, a wiry 26-year-old aeronautical engineer who started the company in 2015, shortly after a short stint working for airplane manufacturer Airbus SE.“The app aims to allow users to buy whatever they need from their phone", says Pierre.Glovo’s main food-delivery competitor in Latin America, Rappi, recently received an $800 million investment from two SoftBank units, the Vision Fund and the smaller, Latin America-focused Innovation Fund. Glovo is also in talks to receive an investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund, after raising 150 million euros in a round earlier this year.To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Stefan NicolaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Fool.co.uk
Would Warren Buffett think this is a “wonderful company”?
Might Unilever plc (LON:ULVR) shares be attractive at current levels to the Oracle of Omaha?
- Bloomberg
Naspers Says Prosus Unit to Be Valued at About $100 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Naspers Ltd. said a newly created entity containing assets including a stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. will be valued at about $100 billion.Africa’s largest company by market value received shareholder backing last week to proceed with the listing of Prosus NV in Amsterdam next month. Alongside the Tencent stake, the new company will hold businesses from Brazil to Germany in industries such as online food delivery and classified advertising.A value of $100 billion would make only Royal Dutch Shell Plc and consumer-goods giant Unilever bigger in Amsterdam by market capitalization. The company would overtake ASML Holding NV, a semiconductor gear-maker priced at about 80 billion euros ($89 billion).Naspers opted to spin off Prosus -- in which it will keep a 73% stake -- to ease its dominance of Johannesburg’s stock exchange and help reduce a valuation gap between the Cape Town-based company and its stake in Tencent. The new group’s assets were valued at about $34 billion as of end June, Naspers said in a statement on Monday.Naspers Looks to Invest in AI as Prosus Listing ApprovedNaspers shares erased gains after the publication of the anticipated market value of Prosus, and traded 0.1% higher at 3,421.11 rand as of 11:52 a.m. in Johannesburg.The stock could gain by a further 40% to 4,800 rand, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts led by JP Davids said in a note published Monday. “In addition to Tencent’s outperformance, we expect the recent compression in the holding company’s discount to be sustained as it reduces its South African sovereign exposure.”Prosus had net income of about $1.4 billion for the three months through June, compared with $1.1 billion the previous year, Naspers said.JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are the main financial advisers on the Prosus listing.(Updates with Amsterdam ranking in third paragraph)\--With assistance from Joost Akkermans.To contact the reporters on this story: Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net;Renee Bonorchis in Johannesburg at rbonorchis@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Frank ConnellyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Fool.co.uk
Forget the high yielders. I’d buy these 3 FTSE 100 dividend growth stocks instead
These FTSE 100 (LON:INDEXFTSE:UKX) companies might be better income plays than you think, says Paul Summers
- Fool.co.uk
I think Unilever shares belong in a recession-proof portfolio
I believe global slowdown risks should not make Unilever plc (LON:ULVR) shareholders too worried.
- Fool.co.uk
Could Unilever be the most dependable FTSE 100 stock right now?
Unilever plc (LON: ULVR) has transcended the domestic economy, which could make it the most reliable stock on the market.
- Yahoo Finance
New business group debuts 'inclusive growth' push ahead of G7 Summit
A new group focused on “inclusive growth” — backed by prominent names in business and finance — is expected to launch on Friday during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-FTSE 100 falls after Fed minutes, pound rally
London's FTSE 100 fell on Thursday as the latest signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve dampened hopes of hefty interest rate cuts, while exporter stocks slipped as the pound rose after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's comments on the Brexit deal. The FTSE 100 shed 1.1%, while the FTSE 250 was roughly flat.
- Simply Wall St.
Could Unilever PLC's (LON:ULVR) Investor Composition Influence The Stock Price?
If you want to know who really controls Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share...
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 2-Worries over global trade, Italy lead FTSE 100 lower
London's main index ended firmly in the red on Tuesday after new U.S.-China trade jitters and political instability in Italy took down heavyweight firms across sectors, while exporter stocks dipped as the pound gained after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's comments on the Brexit process. The FTSE 100 gave up earlier gains and shed 0.9%, though investors still hoped for fresh stimulus from central banks and governments to beat back the risk of recession. The FTSE 250 lost 0.5%.
- Fool.co.uk
3 shares that are I think are perfect for a retirement fund
Andy Ross thinks these three FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) shares could boost an investor's retirement fund by offering both income and growth potential.
- Fool.co.uk
I think these might be the best FTSE 100 shares to buy now
These two FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) stocks are coping well in the current economic environment writes Rupert Hargreaves.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UPDATE 3-LSE's FTSE stock market suffers longest outage in years
A technical glitch delayed the start of trading on Friday on the UK blue chip FTSE 100 and midcap stock indexes for almost two hours in what was the longest outage at one of the world's top bourses in eight years. The London Stock Exchange suffered a "technical software issue", which postponed the opening of trading until 0840 GMT, a spokeswoman said in an email. Traders were frustrated by the latest outage coming during a hectic week on global financial markets, hit by worries about a U.S. recession and the U.S.-China trade spat.
- Fool.co.uk
2 reliable stocks I think you can buy and forget
If you’re looking for stable income stocks then I think these two companies could be worth investing in.
