Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases New Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Whirlpool by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 16,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Whirlpool by 2.4% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 11,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,945,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 13.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Whirlpool in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $118.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Whirlpool in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.00.

Whirlpool Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $137.66 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $144.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of -4.84, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.54. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $124.10 and a one year high of $163.15.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 24th. The company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.45. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 8.13% and a positive return on equity of 29.70%. The company had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Whirlpool Co. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -24.59%.

Insider Transactions at Whirlpool

In related news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total value of $858,720.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,834,143.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total value of $858,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,764 shares in the company, valued at $5,834,143.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc R. Bitzer sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.18, for a total transaction of $2,863,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,842,313.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Whirlpool Profile

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in 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.