International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 19,830 Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 19,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,282,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WHR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 981,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,304,000 after acquiring an additional 312,729 shares during the last quarter. RWWM Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the second quarter worth $30,174,000. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 23.8% in the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,402,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,381,000 after purchasing an additional 269,976 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Whirlpool by 240.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 375,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,125,000 after purchasing an additional 265,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Whirlpool by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,094,000 after buying an additional 258,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WHR opened at $113.47 on Thursday. Whirlpool Co. has a 1 year low of $84.18 and a 1 year high of $126.30. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $113.63 and its 200-day moving average is $105.56. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is 69.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Whirlpool

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total value of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares in the company, valued at $4,343,233.60. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on 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 increased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Whirlpool 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.