Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 303,280 Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 303,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,719,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WHR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,917,000 after purchasing an additional 223,232 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 648.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 112,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,999,000 after purchasing an additional 97,152 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,275,000. Finally, Financial Sense Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 122.9% in the 4th quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. now owns 98,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,290,000 after purchasing an additional 54,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WHR. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

Whirlpool Stock Down 2.6 %

WHR opened at $88.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.13 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $84.18 and a one year high of $135.49.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -119.45%.

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.