f9photos Here at the Lab, we have a long beneficial position in the shares of Unilever PLC ( NYSE: UL ) ( OTCPK:UNLYF ). That said, it has been a while since our last coverage . In the meantime, our team has continued investigating the EU Consumer Staple sector with comments on Nestle and Danone and follow-up notes in the beverage segment ( Diageo , Heineken , and Campari ).
The company is one of the largest global fast-moving consumer goods players and operates with five business units: 1) Beauty & Wellbeing, 2) Personal Care, 3) Home Care, 4) Nutrition and 5) Ice Cream. The company's products are available in more than 190 countries , with supportive sales generation coming from emerging markets and Power Brands. Unilever's portfolio includes well-known brands like Lipton, Dove, Cif, Knorr, Ben & Jerry's, and Dove.
Aside from our new estimates, on a high-level comment, we deep-dive into Unilever's potential upside shortly. Unilever's Q1 trading update was particularly encouraging. The company's Underlying Sales Growth came in nicely ahead of expectations (4.
4% compared to a consensus estimate of 3.0%), with most regions and divisions achieving better than forecasted volume growth. This performance has bolstered our optimism for Unilever's future.
Why are we positive? Starting with a top-down approach, we should report Unilever's underperformance related to the consumer staples sector. The company currently trades at a P/E of 17x compared to the S&P 500 Consumer Staples aver.