Pricing Seen as Meaningful Driver of Unilever's 3Q Growth -- Market Talk

Unilever likely will report 5% organic sales growth in the third quarter, driven by momentum in its Home Care and Beauty & Wellbeing units, according to analysts Celine Pannut and Edward Hockin at J.P. Morgan. Home Care growth is expected at 8.2%, while Beauty & Wellbeing is seen rising 6.1%. For other segments, Personal Care is forecast to grow 5.6% and Foods about 0.5%. The analysts also expect a potential beat on third-quarter volumes, with pricing increasingly becoming a meaningful driver of growth—rising 2.9% for volumes and 2.1% for price. Unilever has an “overweight” rating and a 57.00-pound target price. Shares closed at 45.00 pounds Monday.