Sapient Capital LLC Takes $388,000 Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 6.8% in the third quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 15,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 78,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,531,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $96.99 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $107.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Whirlpool Co. has a 1-year low of $91.90 and a 1-year high of $160.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.52.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 35.16%. Whirlpool’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WHR. StockNews.com cut shares of Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.40.

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.