Arnhold LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Arnhold LLC grew its holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 99,445 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,198 shares during the quarter. Whirlpool makes up about 1.4% of Arnhold LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Arnhold LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $12,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WHR. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 190.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Whirlpool during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Whirlpool in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet raised Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.40.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Whirlpool stock traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.86. 1,025,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,370,362. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $108.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.18. Whirlpool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $91.90 and a fifty-two week high of $160.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.17. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 35.16% and a net margin of 2.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.42%.

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.