Is it Still Safe to Own Unilever (UL) Shares?

Mayar Capital, an asset management firm, published its second-quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. For the three months ending March 31, 2021, Mayar Fund (Class A) was down 6.6% net of all expenses and fees, while the MSCI World Index declined by 5.2% in the same period. Since its inception in May 2011, Mayar Fund has seen a 198.7% increase versus a 180.9% increase for the MSCI. That corresponds to a 10.6% annualized rate of return for the Mayar Fund, compared to 10.1% for the MSCI. Go over the fund’s top 5 positions to have a glimpse of its finest picks for 2022.

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Mayar Capital mentioned Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1929, Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) is a London, United Kingdom-based multinational consumer goods company with a $121.3 billion market capitalization. Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) delivered a -11.41% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -15.38%. The stock closed at $47.65 per share on August 17, 2022.

Here is what Mayar Capital has to say about Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“Inflation was a persistent theme over 2021 for our consumer goods holdings, including Unilever (NYSE:UL). Supply chain difficulties as the global economy opens back up has increased input prices – both material and transportation costs – and these businesses have not yet passed on these cost increases, though we know from history that this can take time. In addition to the general inflation theme, Unilever made headlines at the beginning of the new year with rumours that it was considering buying GSK’s consumer brand portfolio, followed by a formal offer of GBP 50 billion for the business. After an almost unanimously negative reaction from the market, CEO Alan Jope commented later that ‘we do not intend to pursue major acquisitions in the foreseeable future’.”

Photo by Jason Jarrach on Unsplash

Our calculations show that Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) was in 23 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 23 funds in the previous quarter. Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) delivered a 7.81% return in the past 3 months.

In July 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q2 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.