Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 193 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,782 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 193 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Whirlpool during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 323.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Whirlpool by 216.0% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.80.

Whirlpool Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE WHR opened at $106.08 on Friday. Whirlpool Co. has a 52 week low of $84.18 and a 52 week high of $135.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of -18.10 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 21.89% and a negative net margin of 1.95%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -119.45%.

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.