South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Stock Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 83,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $10,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Whirlpool during the 4th quarter valued at about $274,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 27,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 7,343 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Whirlpool in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet upgraded Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.60.

Whirlpool Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WHR traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.55. The company had a trading volume of 833,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.18. Whirlpool Co. has a 52 week low of $98.40 and a 52 week high of $160.62. The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.48.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 2.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.