Financial Advocates Investment Management Purchases Shares of 1,952 Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FIFTHDELTA Ltd bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the first quarter worth about $50,986,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 46.8% in the second 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 during the period. RWWM Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,174,000. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 23.8% during the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,402,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,381,000 after acquiring an additional 269,976 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 240.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 375,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,125,000 after acquiring an additional 265,418 shares during the period. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Whirlpool news, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the company’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 directly owns 19,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $326,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares in the company, valued at $4,343,233.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Whirlpool Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $105.00 on Tuesday. Whirlpool Co. has a 1-year low of $84.18 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $102.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.55.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 21.41%. Whirlpool’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America raised 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, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

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.