Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,216,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 141,116 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 2.22% of Whirlpool worth $181,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WHR. Loudon Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 2.8% in the second quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 5,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 30.4% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 45,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,813,000 after buying an additional 10,688 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 3.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 8.6% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 52,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,824,000 after buying an additional 4,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool in the second quarter valued at $549,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $121.00 to $92.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Whirlpool in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Longbow Research cut Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.20.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Whirlpool stock opened at $112.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $123.22 and its 200-day moving average is $134.92. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Whirlpool Co. has a 12 month low of $98.40 and a 12 month high of $160.74.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The company reported $5.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 38.84% and a negative net margin of 8.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.49 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 15.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -23.70%.

Whirlpool Profile

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in 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.