Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.80.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $132.79 on Tuesday. Whirlpool has a 1 year low of $84.18 and a 1 year high of $134.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $117.19 and its 200 day moving average is $107.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted 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. Whirlpool had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.45 earnings per share. Whirlpool’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Whirlpool will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whirlpool

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $626,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,343,233.60. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 258,871 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 valued at $176,591,000 after acquiring an additional 15,752 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 1.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,033,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,567,000 after buying an additional 18,936 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 981,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,304,000 after purchasing an additional 312,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 11,766 shares in the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.