Unilever plc (ADR) (UL)

Unilever just makes tons of stuff (consumer non-durables, meaning you'll keep buying it over and over again) for sale all over the world; besides keeping me smelling fresh throughout the day, its dividend yield should keep my portfolio looking fresh every 6 months.

Unilever not only has a nice dividend, but they are selling consumer products which are more resilient to market conditions. The P/E is reasonably low and large cap stocks should come back into play. Right now the valuation is very attractive They are expanding in Africa/Asia and hopefully their margins will be improved.

Unilever is a good company that sells goods which everyone needs and will still sell product even in a recession. They also boast a dividend which makes it a good company to hold onto in a portfolio for many years. The Unilever name has been building and growing and is growing up to (I really hope) be the on par with Johnson and Johnson someday in terms of household recognition but (at least currently) at a fraction of the cost.

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods across foods, home and personal product categories. Unilever Home and Personal Care offers brands, such as Dove, Lux, Axe, Rexona and Sunsilk while its foods segment includes brands like Rama, Blue Band and Country Crock. The company’s products are sold across Europe, the U.S., Asia and Africa.

Unilever’s top-line growth in Europe has been dismal due to slow economic growth and increasing number of discount stores. However, the management has made initiatives to reshape its Foods research and development in Europe, which will enable the company to deliver innovations for both the European and global market. Moreover, the “One Unilever” program, which includes increasing leverage of its scale and thereby creating a more competitive cost-structure that, should allow the company to rebalance its price-value equation and thus providing a tough time to discounters.

Unilever has set their tong term target to generate free cash flow of Euro 25 to 30 billion till 2010 and improve their return on invested capital. The management emphasized that this could be achieved through an underlying sales growth of 3-5% p.a. and enhanced operating margin of 15% after normal restructuring. Company’s focus on developing and emerging markets, which is a major contributor to total revenue, would help them to sustain this top-line growth of 3-5%. Further company’s plan to reduce its top management structure and thereby save Euro 1 billion by end of 2007 should boost the operating margin. Additionally a better portfolio mix coupled with consumer marketing should increase its revenue growth. With these positive outlooks it seems that the company should be able to enhance shareholder return.

The market is down right now but once it stabilizes this stock to take off and to keep moving over the estimated time frame. This stock has proven that it is reliable. It's like knowing you have a cushion through bad times and good. :)

solid and will go higher

Unilever's financials have always been strong. Plus, this company is smartly starting to heavily target the attention-starved aging baby boomer market. There's lots of performance left in this one.

Amazing growth for a company in this industry. I liken it to a Proctor and Gamble in numbers, but with an interesting stable. Axe product line is cool, and doing exceptionally well. One of the only products on the general market that is targeted towards the cologne market for young people. It has been expanded. Buy this in bunches as it will be a gem over a lifetime. These are generation stocks, which one can pass on. Buy and hold, then buy more. Almost worth any price.

Remember; amongst all the market anxiety it will recover, and selling will mostly be about loss control for a lot, so don't bother with that. Hold, and buy more at this current discount (25% off sale) to lower loss, and enjoy the 35% increase for being a smart investor. "A good company at a fair price is better than a fair company at a good price" was how Warren Buffett descried them.

Unilever is a world-wide company with great products used throughout Europe & USA. Company has strong fundamentals and a solid dividend. The stock has been on consistently rising and should see $30 range by year end.

From the Yahoo Finance profile: "Unilever PLC, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and supplies fast moving consumer goods in food, and home and personal care product categories."

A defensive, dividend paying stock. Unilever PLC is based in London. Currently trades at a forward PE of 15, PEG of 1. Profit and operating margins are 12 and 14% respectively. Dividend yield is 2.9%.

For comparison, P&G has a little better margins (13 and 20%), but has lower estimated long term growth (11%) and a lower dividend payout (2.2%). Even though it's in a different industry category than P&G, they're in the same sector and the product mix is similar enough that I believe a direct comparison is applicable.

This type of company isn't likely to outperform the S&P over a very long term, but should hold up in an uncertain market environment.

See rational on UN. UL may see some slowdown relative to UN due to a possible bottom in the USD. Both are excellent pick-ups, but I see more potential growth in UN.

A behemoth that is tying his shoes and getting ready to hit the ground running! They just redid their whole logistical network streamlining it to increase their profit margin. Might take a few years before it shows in the numbers, though....

Defensive play for slowing economy with good dividend.

Staple product line generally profitable in good times and bad. I purchased 50 shares about a year ago just to "park some cash" in a safe stock and it's up 35% [not including dividends].

Grows dividend almost every year [usually wrong on Yahoo finance however which assumes quarterly payouts]

Great stock at a clear price. Buy and hold for the long term.

Good defensive play with solid divy, changing to quarterly divy next year will be a plus to! Long term price appreciation and divy make this a long term buy and forget in my long term portfolio.

well run company, good product basket, low price

good products

They own a lot of products such as dove soaps