Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,536,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,919,000 after buying an additional 25,740 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,804,000 after buying an additional 924,128 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,296,000 after buying an additional 541,219 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,410,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,614,000 after buying an additional 46,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3,554.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,382,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,339,000 after buying an additional 1,344,601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Down 0.4 %

WHR opened at $94.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $109.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.79. Whirlpool Co. has a 12 month low of $91.90 and a 12 month high of $160.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.17. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 35.16% and a net margin of 2.07%. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is currently 96.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet upgraded Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Whirlpool in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.40.

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.