BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires New Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WHR. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Whirlpool by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,729,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,964,000 after acquiring an additional 26,630 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,425,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,589,000 after acquiring an additional 14,826 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in Whirlpool by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,169,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,354,000 after purchasing an additional 103,909 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Whirlpool by 1.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 462,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,248,000 after buying an additional 8,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIFTHDELTA Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,986,000. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Whirlpool from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America started coverage on Whirlpool in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.75.

Whirlpool Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:WHR opened at $98.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Whirlpool Co. has a 52-week low of $84.18 and a 52-week high of $141.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 1.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 27.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.21 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 11.31 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.13%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.42%.

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.