Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Raised to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $94.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $68.00. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 4.14% from the company’s current price.

WHR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Whirlpool from $81.00 to $65.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.25.

Whirlpool Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of Whirlpool stock opened at $90.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.24. Whirlpool has a 1 year low of $73.72 and a 1 year high of $135.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.40 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.03. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 21.89% and a negative net margin of 1.95%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Whirlpool will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 35.3% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 644 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Whirlpool during the first quarter worth about $1,178,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Whirlpool by 11.1% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Whirlpool by 2.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 169,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,316,000 after acquiring an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Whirlpool by 64.1% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

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.