Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

WHR has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America upgraded Whirlpool from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Whirlpool from $81.00 to $65.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.25.

Whirlpool Price Performance

NYSE WHR opened at $90.26 on Friday. Whirlpool has a twelve month low of $73.72 and a twelve month high of $135.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of -15.40 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.15.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.03. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 21.89% and a negative net margin of 1.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Whirlpool

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WHR. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 113.6% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.