Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Shares Down 4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) dropped 4% on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $74.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Whirlpool traded as low as $105.92 and last traded at $105.92. Approximately 406,555 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,195,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $110.37.

Separately, Bank of America upped their target price on Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Insider Activity at Whirlpool

In other Whirlpool news, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $326,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Whirlpool

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Whirlpool by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 41,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,007,000 after purchasing an additional 6,984 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the first quarter worth $1,054,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 471.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 69,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,262,000 after buying an additional 56,978 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Whirlpool in the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Whirlpool by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 43,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,421,000 after acquiring an additional 12,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.76. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 27.67% and a net margin of 2.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.45 EPS. Analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 11.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is currently 72.39%.

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.