ORG Partners LLC Takes Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 2.3% during the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 96.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 204 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 7.1% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of WHR opened at $105.53 on Wednesday. Whirlpool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $98.40 and a fifty-two week high of $160.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.48. 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 (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is 80.37%.

About Whirlpool

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.