South Dakota Investment Council Sells 1,000 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.15% of Whirlpool worth $10,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 160.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 190.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 282 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet raised Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on Whirlpool in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.60.

Whirlpool Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WHR stock traded up $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $105.55. The company had a trading volume of 833,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,670. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $109.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. Whirlpool Co. has a twelve month low of $98.40 and a twelve month high of $160.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.32. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 2.47%. The company had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is currently 80.37%.

Whirlpool Profile

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The company's principal products include refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, and refrigerator water filters; laundry appliances, and commercial laundry products and related laundry accessories; cooking and other small domestic appliances; and dishwasher appliances and related accessories, as well as mixers.