Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Stock Position Lowered by Twin Capital Management Inc.

Twin Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 57.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,438 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,410 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,536,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,919,000 after acquiring an additional 25,740 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Whirlpool by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,001,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,338,000 after buying an additional 1,389,657 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Whirlpool by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,213,000 after buying an additional 72,732 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Whirlpool by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,804,000 after buying an additional 924,128 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Whirlpool by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,296,000 after buying an additional 541,219 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR opened at $104.67 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.94 and its 200-day moving average is $113.67. Whirlpool Co. has a 12 month low of $98.40 and a 12 month high of $160.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.32. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.89 EPS. Whirlpool’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.69%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is presently 80.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on WHR shares. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.60.

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.