Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Price Target to $74.00

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $76.00 to $74.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential downside of 28.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.00.

Whirlpool Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of WHR stock opened at $104.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Whirlpool has a 12-month low of $84.18 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.76. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.44. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 27.67%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Whirlpool will post 11.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Whirlpool news, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Whirlpool

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 2.6% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 80.6% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 428 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 69.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 492 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

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.