StockNews.com Downgrades Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday.

WHR has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR opened at $120.71 on Monday. Whirlpool has a 52 week low of $84.18 and a 52 week high of $126.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.10.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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%. Whirlpool’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.45 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares in the company, valued at $4,343,233.60. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Whirlpool

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 323.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Whirlpool in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Whirlpool by 545.5% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in 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.