Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C Trims Stock Holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C decreased its position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 31.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,914 shares during the quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WHR. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Whirlpool during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Whirlpool by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Whirlpool from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.75.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $107.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.99. Whirlpool Co. has a 52 week low of $84.18 and a 52 week high of $135.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 1.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.39. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 27.67% and a net margin of 2.89%. The company’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 11.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Whirlpool news, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $326,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,070 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.