Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.60.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, February 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Whirlpool

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 3.6% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 2.3% in the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% in the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 96.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Whirlpool Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $104.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Whirlpool has a 1 year low of $98.40 and a 1 year high of $160.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.03 and its 200-day moving average is $113.86.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Whirlpool will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.37%.

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.