Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.75

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of 1.75 per share on Sunday, June 15th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th.

Whirlpool has increased its dividend by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years. Whirlpool has a payout ratio of 61.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Whirlpool to earn $10.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.1%.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of WHR opened at $79.33 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Whirlpool has a twelve month low of $75.04 and a twelve month high of $135.49. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.54 and a beta of 1.31.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Whirlpool will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WHR. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.00.

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.