Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.40.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Whirlpool from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. Longbow Research raised shares of Whirlpool from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $81.00 to $65.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of WHR opened at $109.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $85.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 784.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Whirlpool has a 1-year low of $73.72 and a 1-year high of $135.49.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.03. Whirlpool had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.38%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5,000.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,917,000 after purchasing an additional 223,232 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1,188.2% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 13.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,118,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,470,000 after purchasing an additional 98,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Whirlpool during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,719,000. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.