Norges Bank Purchases New Position in Whirlpool Corporation $WHR

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 705,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,595,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 1.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in Whirlpool by 35.3% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 644 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Whirlpool by 2.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 6,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Whirlpool by 44.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 90.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Whirlpool from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Whirlpool in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $80.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $86.43.

Whirlpool Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Whirlpool stock opened at $79.95 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of -23.79 and a beta of 1.21. Whirlpool Corporation has a 52-week low of $65.35 and a 52-week high of $135.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.68. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.18% and a positive return on equity of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Corporation will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is currently -107.14%.

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.