Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $112.80.

Several equities research analysts have commented on WHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Whirlpool news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 41,570 shares in the company, valued at $4,343,233.60. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Whirlpool

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Whirlpool by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Whirlpool by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 26,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,017,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Whirlpool by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 8,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $132.20 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.44. Whirlpool has a one year low of $84.18 and a one year high of $134.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.89.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.44. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 3.19%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

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.