Whirlpool Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.75 (NYSE:WHR)

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 17th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 1.75 per share on Saturday, March 15th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th.

Whirlpool has increased its dividend by an average of 8.7% annually over the last three years. Whirlpool has a dividend payout ratio of 60.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Whirlpool to earn $10.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.1%.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

WHR opened at $104.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.79 and a beta of 1.43. Whirlpool has a 12-month low of $84.18 and a 12-month high of $135.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.33 and a 200-day moving average of $108.76.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WHR. 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 upped their target price on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

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.