Delta Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 3,000 Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Whirlpool by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $104.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.89 and a beta of 1.43. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $84.18 and a one year high of $135.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Whirlpool’s dividend 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.