South Dakota Investment Council Has $12.66 Million Stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,546 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.20% of Whirlpool worth $12,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Whirlpool by 14.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,094,000 after acquiring an additional 258,871 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,650,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,591,000 after purchasing an additional 15,752 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,033,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,936 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 903,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 11,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.4% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 440,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,099,000 after purchasing an additional 6,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.00.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $104.82 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.38. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $84.18 and a one year high of $135.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of -17.89 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 21.89% and a negative net margin of 1.95%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is -119.45%.

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.