StockNews.com Lowers Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) to Hold

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

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

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.4 %

WHR stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,516,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,095. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Whirlpool has a 12-month low of $91.90 and a 12-month high of $160.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.79.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 36.24%. Whirlpool’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Whirlpool will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Whirlpool

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 160.0% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 20,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

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.