Analysts Are Downgrading These 5 Stocks

In this article, we discuss the 5 stocks that analysts are downgrading. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to Analysts Are Downgrading These 10 Stocks.

5. Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 19    

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) is ranked fifth on our list of 10 stocks that analysts are downgrading. The firm operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company with operations around the world. It is headquartered in the United Kingdom. 

On September 16, investment advisory Deutsche Bank downgraded Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) stock to Hold from Buy and reduced the price target to GBP4,600 from GBP4,800, noting that the firm was going to have to “show it can outperform earnings expectations” for an upgrade.

At the end of the second quarter of 2021, 19 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $844 million in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL), down from 20 in the previous quarter worth $826 million.

In its Q2 2021 investor letter, Fiduciary Management, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“New opportunities… when, where, and why? As disciplined investors, we find ourselves leaning into the wind time and again, and 2021 has been no different. Given the weakness in emerging markets, companies with significant revenue in emerging markets provided a handful of interesting opportunities. For example, we added to our position in Unilever PLC, a blue‐chip consumer staple. The company’s large emerging market exposure (over 50% of revenue), which, historically, had been viewed positively by the market due to better long‐term growth prospects, has weighed on the stock more recently. Growth is expected to rebound as these geographies recover, and the stock trades at a meaningful discount to its peers.”