Stifel Financial Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 440,175 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,049 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.80% of Whirlpool worth $47,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Whirlpool during the third quarter valued at about $449,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Whirlpool in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 85.0% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 6,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 34.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 69,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,000 after buying an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 1.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,033,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,567,000 after acquiring an additional 18,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Whirlpool

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total value of $626,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,343,233.60. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Whirlpool Trading Up 4.0 %

Whirlpool stock opened at $112.82 on Friday. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $84.18 and a one year high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $107.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.06.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 21.41%. Whirlpool’s revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is 69.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

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.