Unilever PLC Stock: Magnum Demerger, Share Consolidation and Outlook for ULVR and UL as of 11 December 2025

Unilever PLC (LON: ULVR; NYSE: UL) is back at the centre of investor attention after completing the long‑planned demerger of its ice‑cream arm, The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC), and pushing through an 8‑for‑9 share consolidation that triggered a sharp rally in the London share price this week. ^[1]

With a new CEO, a freshly confirmed CFO and guidance for volume‑led growth and higher margins, the stock now sits at an interesting turning point: leaner and more focused, but facing slower underlying market growth and a divided analyst community. ^[2]

This article pulls together the latest news, numbers and forecasts as of 11 December 2025.

Unilever share price today: ULVR in London, UL in New York

On the London Stock Exchange, Unilever’s ordinary shares (ULVR) are trading in the mid‑4,700s pence in Thursday trading, after closing at 4,820p on 10 December 2025. Over the last year, the stock has ranged roughly between 4,123p and 4,910p, giving the group a market capitalisation of about £105 billion. The current price implies a price/earnings ratio around 21x and a dividend yield near 3.5%, based on data from Hargreaves Lansdown and UK price histories. ^[3]

The recent move has been volatile. Following the share consolidation linked to the ice‑cream demerger, ULVR jumped nearly 13% in early trading on 9 December, as investors and several brokers welcomed the “slimmer” post‑Magnum Unilever. ^[4]

In the United States, Unilever’s American Depositary Receipts (NYSE: UL) are trading around $63–64 per share, close to the most recent closing price of $64.04 on 9 December 2025. ^[5]

Magnum Ice Cream demerger: a leaner, higher‑margin Unilever

Unilever formally completed the demerger of its ice‑cream division on 6 December 2025, creating The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC). TMICC shares began trading on 8 December in Amsterdam, London and New York under the ticker MICC. ^[6]

According to Reuters, Magnum began trading in Amsterdam around €12.96 per share, implying a valuation of roughly $9.2 billion, and is described as the world’s largest stand‑alone ice‑cream business. ^[7]

The spin‑off answers one of the big strategic questions around Unilever: whether a complex, capital‑intensive frozen business with a dedicated cold‑chain truly belonged inside a broader home‑ and personal‑care conglomerate. Management has consistently argued that separating Ice Cream will:

Simplify the group structure
Lift the underlying operating margin of the remaining business
Allow more focused investment behind Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods brands

In its Q3 2025 trading statement, Unilever said it expects that, excluding Ice Cream, second‑half operating margins will be at least 19.5%, versus at least 18.5% for the group including Ice Cream – signalling a structurally more profitable ex‑Magnum profile. ^[8]

Share consolidation and cancellation of treasury shares

To keep per‑share metrics (like earnings per share and dividends per share) broadly comparable before and after the demerger, Unilever is carrying out a share consolidation. ^[9]

Key details:

Ratio: 8 new Unilever shares for every 9 existing ordinary shares
Effective time: 8:00 a.m. London time on 9 December 2025 for London and Amsterdam, with consolidated American Depositary Shares (ADSs) starting that day in New York ^[10]
Nominal value: Post‑consolidation ordinary shares have a nominal value of £0.035 each ^[11]
Fractions: Small fractional entitlements from holdings not divisible by 9 are aggregated and sold in the market, with cash distributed to affected shareholders ^[12]

In a separate move, Unilever announced the cancellation of 51.6 million shares held in treasury, reducing the number of issued shares to about 2.18 billion, all with voting rights. ^[13]

In economic terms, neither the consolidation nor the cancellation directly makes the company more valuable. But together with ongoing €1.5 billion per year share buybacks, they mechanically support earnings per share and signal a continued commitment to shareholder returns. ^[14]

Q3 2025 results: volume growth is back

Unilever’s Q3 2025 numbers, reported on 23 October 2025, provide the fundamental backdrop to all of this portfolio reshaping.

Headline figures for the quarter: ^[15]

Underlying sales growth (USG): 3.9% (4.0% excluding Ice Cream)
Volume growth: 1.5% (1.7% excluding Ice Cream)
Price growth: 2.4%
Turnover: €14.7 billion, down 3.5% year‑on‑year due mainly to currency headwinds and disposals
Power Brands: 4.4% USG, contributing around 78% of turnover

All five business groups (Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Foods and Ice Cream) delivered underlying sales growth above 3%. Developed markets grew 3.7%, led by 5.5% volume‑led growth in North America, while emerging markets accelerated to 4.1% USG, with improving trends in China and a strong recovery in Indonesia. ^[16]

The quarterly dividend was increased 3% year‑on‑year to €0.4528 per share, keeping Unilever on course for a steadily rising payout. ^[17]

Outlook for 2025

Management has reaffirmed its full‑year 2025 guidance: ^[18]

Underlying sales growth in the 3–5% range
Second‑half growth ahead of the first half, despite subdued markets
Underlying operating margin improvement, with at least 18.5% in H2 for the group and at least 19.5% excluding Ice Cream
Capex slightly above 3% of turnover, restructuring around 1.4% of turnover and net finance costs of ~3% of average net debt

The message: the growth is modest but increasingly volume‑led rather than purely price‑driven, and margins are rebuilding after the inflation shock of the last few years.

Strategy under new CEO Fernando Fernandez and CFO Srinivas Phatak

Unilever’s strategic reset is being executed by a refreshed top team.

Leadership changes

In February 2025, Unilever announced that Hein Schumacher would step down as CEO and board director on 1 March 2025, leaving the company at the end of May. ^[19]
Fernando Fernandez, previously CFO and earlier head of the fast‑growing Beauty & Wellbeing division, became CEO from 1 March 2025, with a mandate to accelerate the company’s Growth Action Plan (GAP). ^[20]
After serving as acting CFO, Srinivas Phatak was confirmed as permanent CFO in September 2025, with the board highlighting his financial discipline and ability to drive volume growth and margin expansion. ^[21]

The Growth Action Plan and Power Brands

Unilever’s Growth Action Plan, first outlined in 2023 and reinforced through 2024–25, focuses on: ^[22]

A sharper portfolio centred on around 30 “Power Brands” that now represent more than 75% of group turnover
Higher brand and marketing investment, which rose to about 15.5% of turnover in 2024, the highest share in over a decade
Fewer, bigger innovations and more premium positioning in categories like skin care, hair, and wellbeing
A leaner, more accountable organisation structure, launched in January 2025, with business groups focused on the top 24 markets

The ICE‑cream demerger is the most visible step in this simplification, but far from the only one. CEO Fernando Fernandez has repeatedly stressed that future growth should be anchored in a “future‑fit portfolio” with more Beauty, Wellbeing and premium personal‑care exposure, and that Unilever’s two most important markets – the US and India – together now account for about 35% of group turnover. ^[23]

Analyst sentiment and Unilever stock forecasts

Analysts are split on what all this means for the share price.

London‑listed ULVR: targets and ratings

On the London line:

Data compiled by Fintel shows an average one‑year price target of about 5,166p for ULVR, based on multiple analyst forecasts. The range runs from 3,939p on the low side to 6,195p on the high side, implying mid‑single‑ to low‑double‑digit percentage upside from recent levels, depending on the starting price used. ^[24]
A recent UBS note, however, kept a “Sell” rating on ULVR and cut its 12‑month price target from 4,635p to 4,440p, calling out muted market growth and the earnings drag from divesting tea, coffee and now ice cream. UBS estimates around a 10% earnings drag from demergers, partially offset by share consolidation and ongoing €1.5 billion annual buybacks, and expects Unilever to trade on roughly 17x 2026 earnings, a slight discount to peers. ^[25]

That bearish UBS target implies about 8% downside from the roughly 4,850p level at which the stock was trading when the note was written, underlining how valuation views differ even after the post‑consolidation rally. ^[26]

TipRanks summarises one recent human analyst view as a Sell with a £40.00 target, but its in‑house AI “Spark” model labels ULVR as Outperform, citing resilient financials and a positive earnings outlook despite valuation concerns. ^[27]

New York‑listed UL: EPS forecasts and US sentiment

In the US, Unilever’s ADRs trade in the Household & Personal Products peer group.

According to WallStreetZen, consensus from around 21 Wall Street analysts points to: ^[28]

Current EPS of about $2.65
Forecast EPS of $3.01 in 2025, $3.15 in 2026 and $3.34 in 2027
An implied forecast annual earnings growth rate of roughly 8%, faster than the sector average but slower than the broader US equity market
Forecast revenue growth that is slightly negative on average over 2025–27, reflecting portfolio changes and FX pressures

Some data aggregators also collate ADR price targets: a Yahoo Finance snapshot shows an average target around $71 versus a recent price near $64, though coverage is thinner than for many US domestic peers. ^[29]

MarketWatch lists a depositary line (UNLYD) with an “Overweight” average recommendation, though based on a very small number of ratings, again highlighting that North American coverage remains somewhat limited compared with European coverage of ULVR. ^[30]

Model‑based price predictions

A variety of quantitative sites publish algorithmic forecasts for UL:

One model on Coincodex projects a modest 1–2% gain in UL’s share price into early January 2026. ^[31]
Another, on PandaForecast, had previously projected near‑term downside into early December. ^[32]
A long‑dated forecast on Stockscan shows an average 2027 price target in the low‑$40s, implying significant downside from current levels, illustrating how sensitive such models can be to inputs and assumptions. ^[33]

These probabilistic, model‑driven outputs are not the same as broker research and should be treated as rough scenario tools, not as standalone investment advice.

Key themes for investors watching Unilever stock

Whether Unilever’s post‑Magnum transformation justifies a higher or lower valuation will depend on how a few big themes play out over the next 2–3 years:

1. Volume‑led growth vs price‑driven growth

Q3 showed Unilever finally delivering positive volume growth across the portfolio, with price still a contributor but no longer the sole engine. ^[34]

Investors will be watching:

Can the company sustain 1–2%+ volume growth without excessive promotional spending?
Do emerging markets like China, India and Indonesia continue to recover, or does consumer pressure return? ^[35]

2. Margin resilience after the spin‑off

Management is effectively promising a higher‑margin, less volatile Unilever now that Ice Cream is separate. The 2025 guidance for margins of at least 18.5% for the group and 19.5% excluding Ice Cream sets a clear benchmark. ^[36]

Any slippage – for example, if input costs rise again or markets slow – would quickly test investor patience after the recent rally.

3. Capital allocation: buybacks and dividends

Between:

A progressive dividend (Q3 payout up 3%) ^[37]
€1.5 billion per year in planned buybacks
The share consolidation and treasury‑share cancellation ^[38]

Unilever is leaning heavily into cash returns. The key question is whether this is being done in addition to – rather than instead of – sufficient investment in product innovation, marketing and long‑term growth projects.

4. Competitive and macro backdrop

Unilever continues to face:

Intense competition from peers like Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, local champions in emerging markets, and private‑label brands
FX volatility and uneven consumer demand across regions
Ongoing scrutiny of environmental, social and governance commitments, especially around plastics and supply chains ^[39]

The company’s scale, brand portfolio and geographic diversification are advantages, but they do not make it immune to a global consumer slowdown.

Bottom line

As of 11 December 2025, Unilever PLC sits at a strategic crossroads:

The Magnum demerger and share consolidation have created a simpler, more margin‑focused Unilever and unlocked a new listed ice‑cream pure‑play. ^[40]
Q3 results and full‑year guidance point to steady, volume‑supported growth and improving profitability, albeit from a modest base. ^[41]
The new CEO and CFO team is doubling down on power brands, premiumisation and emerging markets, particularly the US and India. ^[42]
Analyst opinion ranges from bullish double‑digit‑upside price targets to cautious “Sell” calls, underlining real disagreement on how much of the turnaround is already in the price. ^[43]

For investors and traders following ULVR in London or UL in New York, the next phases of the story will likely hinge on whether Unilever can turn this structural clean‑up into sustained volume growth, durable margins and compounding cash returns in 2026 and beyond.