Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Price Target to $79.00

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) had its target price dropped by Royal Bank of Canada from $85.00 to $79.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 16.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.40.

Whirlpool Price Performance

WHR opened at $94.60 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.95. Whirlpool has a 1 year low of $91.90 and a 1 year high of $160.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Whirlpool

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Whirlpool by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,536,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,919,000 after buying an additional 25,740 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Whirlpool by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,729,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,964,000 after buying an additional 26,630 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in Whirlpool by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,804,000 after buying an additional 924,128 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Whirlpool by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,296,000 after buying an additional 541,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Whirlpool by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,425,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,589,000 after buying an additional 14,826 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Whirlpool

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.