Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Whirlpool (NYSE:WHRFree Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Whirlpool from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.25.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WHR

Whirlpool Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $93.14 on Friday. Whirlpool has a 52-week low of $73.72 and a 52-week high of $135.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 665.29 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHRGet Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 0.04%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Whirlpool’s revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Whirlpool will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is currently 5,000.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Whirlpool

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WHR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,536,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,775,000 after buying an additional 33,326 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 5.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,235,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,529,000 after acquiring an additional 117,964 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,808,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,065,000 after acquiring an additional 659,014 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 11.4% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,806,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,784,000 after purchasing an additional 184,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 25.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,343,000 after purchasing an additional 350,397 shares in the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Whirlpool Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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