Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on WHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital began coverage on Whirlpool in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a buy rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet raised Whirlpool from a d+ rating to a c+ rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $113.40.

Whirlpool Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $94.60 on Friday. Whirlpool has a one year low of $91.90 and a one year high of $160.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.48.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 35.16% and a net margin of 2.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Whirlpool

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,536,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,919,000 after purchasing an additional 25,740 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,729,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,964,000 after purchasing an additional 26,630 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,804,000 after purchasing an additional 924,128 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,296,000 after purchasing an additional 541,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,425,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,589,000 after purchasing an additional 14,826 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Whirlpool Company 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.