Is the Unilever share price expensive at 4,474p (LON:ULVR)?

Unilever (LON:ULVR) is a large cap stock fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company with brands including Axe, Dirt is Good (Omo), Dove, Hellmann's, Knorr, Lipton, Lux, Magnum, Rexona, Sunsilk and Surf. The Company operates in more than 100 countries, selling its products in more than 190 countries and has generated twelve month trailing sales of some €50,756m.

Right now the Unilever share price is on the expensive side from a factor perspective, based on its Value Rank of 31. Let's see why this is.

A closer look at Unilever's Value Rank

We can see by using Unilever’s StockReport that the group has a:

• Rolling price to book value of 10.9,
• Trailing twelve month price to earnings ratio of 24.3
• Trailing twelve month price to free cashflow of 28.6
• Rolling dividend yield of 3.20%
• Trailing twelve-month price to sales ratio of 2.74

This combination of financial traits suggests that Unilever stock is toward the more expensive end of the market. Being expensive is not the end of the world, of course - but it does help to have favourable exposures to other factors to justify the share price premium.

What does this mean for potential investors?

Some of the best quality stocks in the market have defensible models that can deliver high levels of shareholder returns over the long term. But there are no guarantees and it's important to do your own research. Indeed, we've identified some areas of concern with Unilever that you can find out about here.