Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.60.

WHR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet raised shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $104.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Whirlpool has a 1-year low of $98.40 and a 1-year high of $160.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $110.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.86.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

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 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.37%.

Institutional Trading of Whirlpool

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WHR. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 30.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,001,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,657 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 3,554.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,382,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,601 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 59.7% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,804,000 after acquiring an additional 924,128 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 21.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,905,000 after acquiring an additional 558,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 38.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,296,000 after acquiring an additional 541,219 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.