Unilever PLC stock is starting the week with investors still digesting one of the biggest portfolio moves in the group’s modern history: the ice cream separation that created The Magnum Ice Cream Company as a newly listed standalone business. While the demerger removes a notoriously complex cold-chain operation from Unilever’s day-to-day mix, it also strips out a familiar earnings stream—so the market’s attention has snapped to a simpler question: can “new Unilever” deliver faster growth and higher margins in beauty, personal care and wellbeing?
As of December 15, 2025 (08:01 GMT), Unilever shares (ULVR) were trading at 4,844 GBp, up 0.18% on the day, with a market cap around £105.45 billion and a trailing P/E near 21.9. Dividend yield sits around 3.6%, keeping the stock firmly in the “defensive income” conversation even as management pushes a more growth-tilted story. [1]
Below is a detailed, news-driven look at what’s moving Unilever PLC stock right now, what analysts are forecasting, and the risks and catalysts investors are watching into 2026.
Unilever share price today: a quick snapshot (December 15, 2025)
Unilever’s London listing (ULVR:LSE) shows a relatively tight trading range early on December 15:
- Price: 4,844 GBp
- Day move: +8.5 GBp (+0.18%)
- Open / High / Low: 4,844.5 / 4,845.5 / 4,839.0 GBp
- 52-week range: 4,618.0 – 5,259.66 GBp
- Market cap: ~£105.45bn
- Shares outstanding: ~2.18bn
- Dividend yield (annual): ~3.61% (FT data) [2]
That price level matters because it’s now being interpreted through a post-demerger lens: investors are trying to judge whether ULVR deserves to trade more like a higher-margin, premium-leaning personal care business—or remain valued like a slower-growth consumer staples giant.
The big December driver: Magnum Ice Cream demerger and Unilever’s share consolidation
What happened
Unilever completed the separation of its ice cream operations, with The Magnum Ice Cream Company beginning life as a standalone listed business in Amsterdam. Unilever retained a 19.9% stake in the spun-off company. [3]
This split has been framed in two conflicting ways:
- The bullish interpretation: Unilever becomes more focused, less operationally messy, and structurally more margin-friendly without the cold-chain burden of ice cream. [4]
- The cautious interpretation: Investors didn’t get a “perfect” separation value on day one, and the newly listed ice cream company faces its own challenges (health trends, transition costs, weather sensitivity), which can indirectly influence sentiment around the overall Unilever reshuffle. [5]
Why the share count changed: the 8-for-9 consolidation
To keep the capital structure tidy after distributing exposure to the demerged business, Unilever implemented a share consolidation (economically similar to a reverse split), issuing 8 new Unilever shares for every 9 existing shares effective December 9, 2025. The new shares carry ISIN GB00BVZK7T90. [6]
This consolidation also applied to Unilever’s American Depositary Shares (ADS) in the U.S.: holders received 8 new ADS for every 9 existing ADS, and “regular-way” trading in the new ADS started December 9 on the NYSE (with updated settlement identifiers, including a new CUSIP). [7]
Investor takeaway: consolidation doesn’t create value by itself; it simply changes units. But it does reset per-share metrics (price, EPS, dividends per share presentation), which can temporarily scramble comparisons on charts, screeners, and some brokerage apps.
Capital structure clean-up: treasury share cancellations after the demerger
Unilever didn’t just consolidate shares—it also continued a pattern of reducing treasury stock.
- On December 11, 2025, Unilever announced the cancellation of 51,625,153 ordinary shares that had been held in treasury (effective December 10). After the cancellation, Unilever reported 2,181,005,247 ordinary shares in issue, with 2,180,690,335 shares carrying voting rights (excluding a small number held by group companies without exercisable voting rights). [8]
- Earlier, Unilever had also announced a separate treasury cancellation in early December (pre-consolidation context), reinforcing the broader direction: fewer shares sitting idle, and a cleaner denominator for per-share metrics. [9]
Why it matters for ULVR stock: in a steady-growth staples business, share count management can be a meaningful contributor to EPS progression—especially when combined with ongoing buybacks (more on that below).
Management’s post-ice-cream pitch: higher margins, faster categories, and sharper focus
With ice cream out, Unilever is effectively asking investors to grade it on a more concentrated set of categories—especially beauty, wellbeing, and personal care.
Reuters reporting in mid-December highlighted that Unilever expects a 100 basis-point improvement in operating margin in the second half, with an operating margin target of at least 19.5% (post-ice-cream). The same reporting points to Unilever now deriving more than half of revenue from beauty and wellbeing, with faster-growing brands cited in that portfolio. [10]
The market is essentially treating that as a “prove it” moment: removing a lower-margin, high-complexity operation should help margins mechanically—but the bigger rerating argument requires proof of durable volume growth and brand strength.
Analyst forecasts and price targets: a split Wall Street (and City of London) scoreboard
As of December 15, 2025, analysts are actively recalibrating models to account for the Magnum separation and the “new Unilever” earnings base. The result: wide dispersion in price targets, and very different views on growth durability.
The bull case: “2026 is the inflection point”
Several research notes and broker commentary in early-to-mid December argue the demerger sets Unilever up for a rerating—if execution follows.
- Bernstein reiterated a Buy rating with a target of 5,900 GBp (published Dec. 15). [11]
- A Barclays/JPMorgan-flavoured thesis circulating in market commentary argues the post-ice-cream Unilever can become a higher-growth, higher-margin business, with 2026 framed as an “inflection point” year driven by premiumisation, stronger marketing execution, and improving emerging market momentum. [12]
- Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a Buy and raised its target to 5,150 GBp (from 5,050). [13]
- DZ Bank (via London broker ratings coverage) lifted its target to 5,200 GBp with a Buy stance. [14]
A key part of the bullish narrative is that Unilever has more financial flexibility than some peers: commentary around leverage near ~2x EBITDA and room for bolt-on deals and buybacks has been used to support the rerating argument. [15]
The cautious-to-bear case: slow category growth and demerger “dilution”
Not everyone is impressed by the ice-cream-free Unilever story.
- UBS kept a Sell rating and reduced its target to 4,440 GBp, citing subdued market growth and earnings dilution effects tied to the sequence of Unilever separations, while noting buybacks may add to EPS growth over time. [16]
- RBC Capital maintained an underperform/sell stance around the demerger modelling, with published targets around £40 (4,000 GBp) in some reporting. [17]
- Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral view with a target around 5,175 GBp. [18]
Where the “middle” sits: consensus points to moderate upside
Aggregated sell-side data compiled by MarketScreener shows a mean “Outperform” stance (19 analysts) with an average target price implying low-double-digit upside versus the referenced close on that platform. [19]
Investor takeaway: ULVR is not trading like a stock the Street has “solved.” The post-demerger reset has opened a genuine debate about what multiple Unilever deserves.
M&A and buybacks: Unilever signals continued firepower (with a U.S. tilt)
One of the more market-moving strategic disclosures this month was management’s emphasis on deal capacity.
Reuters reported that Unilever is setting aside approximately €1.5 billion (about $1.7 billion) per year for mergers and acquisitions, with a strong focus on the United States, discussed at a JPMorgan event in early December. [20]
The logic is straightforward: if Unilever wants a rerating, it needs either (a) faster organic growth, or (b) smart bolt-ons that accelerate growth in premium, higher-margin categories—without blowing up the balance sheet.
Portfolio reshaping continues: the Graze sale and the “food question”
Unilever’s “focus and simplify” effort isn’t only about ice cream.
On December 1, 2025, Unilever announced it signed an agreement to sell the Graze business to Katjes International (Candy Kittens owner). Financial terms were not disclosed, and closing is expected in the first half of 2026. [21]
Reuters framed the sale as part of a broader strategic shift toward beauty and wellbeing and away from parts of the food portfolio; it also noted reports that Unilever has considered options for other legacy UK food brands. [22]
Why this matters for ULVR forecasts: if Unilever continues to prune slower-growth food assets while reinvesting into premium personal care and wellbeing, the “quality of growth” story gets easier to sell. If it doesn’t—and remains a mixed bag—then the market may continue to value it as a dependable but not exciting staples compounder.
The lingering soap opera: Ben & Jerry’s governance tensions (and why ULVR investors still care)
Even after the ice cream separation, the Ben & Jerry’s saga has remained part of the broader narrative—mostly because reputational and governance issues can spill over into investor sentiment, and because Unilever still holds a stake in the demerged ice cream company.
Reuters reported an internal audit (backed by Unilever) flagged deficiencies in controls and governance at the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, and also covered escalating tension around the independent board chair’s position ahead of the spin-off. [23]
Unilever investors aren’t typically buying ULVR for courtroom drama. But markets are allergic to anything that hints at prolonged distraction—especially during a transformation where management needs attention locked on execution, costs, innovation, and growth.
What to watch next for Unilever stock
Here’s what will likely drive ULVR over the coming weeks and into 2026:
Execution signals
- Evidence that post-ice-cream Unilever can sustain volume growth (not just price-led growth).
- Confirmation that operating margin expansion (including the 19.5%+ ambition in the second half framing) is real, repeatable, and not just a one-off mechanical benefit from the separation. [24]
Capital allocation
- Whether Unilever converts its stated ~€1.5bn/year M&A budget into deals that actually improve growth quality (premium, scalable, high-return). [25]
- The pace and consistency of buybacks and share count discipline, which has already been visible via treasury cancellations and consolidation mechanics. [26]
Portfolio strategy
- More disposals like Graze (and how the proceeds are redeployed). [27]
Analyst revisions
- The Street is actively re-rating and re-modeling Unilever. Target dispersion (roughly 4,000p to 5,900p in recent published notes) tells you conviction is mixed—and mixed conviction is where volatility comes from in a normally “boring” staples stock. [28]
Bottom line: Unilever stock is being repriced as “new Unilever” faces a clean test
Unilever PLC stock on December 15, 2025 sits in an interesting liminal zone: it still looks like a classic global defensive—with scale, dividends, and stability—but the company is actively trying to transform itself into something the market rewards with a higher multiple: faster-growing, premium-leaning, and structurally higher margin.
The ice cream spin-off and share consolidation weren’t the finish line; they were the starting gun. Now the stock’s direction depends less on corporate mechanics and more on execution: volume, margin discipline, brand-building, and whether acquisitions actually add growth rather than just complexity.
References
1. markets.ft.com, 2. markets.ft.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.investegate.co.uk, 7. www.investegate.co.uk, 8. www.investegate.co.uk, 9. www.investegate.co.uk, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.marketscreener.com, 12. www.proactiveinvestors.com, 13. www.marketscreener.com, 14. www.sharesmagazine.co.uk, 15. www.proactiveinvestors.com, 16. www.sharesmagazine.co.uk, 17. www.webull.com, 18. www.marketscreener.com, 19. www.marketscreener.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.unilever.com, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.investegate.co.uk, 27. www.unilever.com, 28. www.marketscreener.com
