Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Shares Bought by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,597 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WHR. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Whirlpool by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 27.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Whirlpool by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WHR shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.75.

Whirlpool Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WHR traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.06. The company had a trading volume of 190,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,378,756. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.36. Whirlpool Co. has a 12-month low of $84.18 and a 12-month high of $148.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool 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.