Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $138.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Whirlpool traded as high as $127.32 and last traded at $126.27, with a volume of 528620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.67.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.80.

Insider Activity at Whirlpool

In related news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Whirlpool by 1.8% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,858,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,513,000 after buying an additional 84,574 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,094,000 after acquiring an additional 258,871 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,650,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,591,000 after purchasing an additional 15,752 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 269,976 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,033,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.44. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.27.

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

Whirlpool Company 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.