Brandes Investment Partners LP Raises Holdings in Whirlpool Corporation $WHR

Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) by 87.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 43,302 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,244 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $3,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 2,391,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,505,000 after buying an additional 221,564 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,279,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,472,000 after buying an additional 29,162 shares during the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 42.3% in the third quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 617,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,499,000 after buying an additional 183,496 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Whirlpool by 5.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 453,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,680,000 after buying an additional 25,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Whirlpool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,959,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of WHR stock opened at $40.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.53. Whirlpool Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $111.96.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.99). The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.44 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 1.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Whirlpool has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool Corporation will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Whirlpool from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Whirlpool from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $55.00 price target on Whirlpool in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Whirlpool to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.89.

Whirlpool Profile

Whirlpool Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, with a product portfolio that spans major categories such as laundry, refrigeration, cooking, dishwashing and small electrics. Headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the company designs, produces and distributes its appliances through a network of wholly owned manufacturing facilities, joint ventures and third-party partners. Whirlpool serves both retail and professional markets, offering products under its flagship Whirlpool brand as well as several well-known names including Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Amana, Brastemp and Consul.

In its laundry segment, Whirlpool provides top- and front-load washing machines, dryers and combination units designed to balance energy efficiency, capacity and convenience.