First City Capital Management Inc. Sells 515 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

First City Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 17.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 515 shares during the quarter. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WHR. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Whirlpool by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,858,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,513,000 after buying an additional 84,574 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in Whirlpool by 23.8% in the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,402,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,381,000 after purchasing an additional 269,976 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 981,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,304,000 after purchasing an additional 312,729 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Whirlpool by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 462,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,248,000 after purchasing an additional 8,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIFTHDELTA Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 1st quarter worth $50,986,000. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR stock opened at $102.41 on Friday. Whirlpool Co. has a 12-month low of $84.18 and a 12-month high of $135.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 1.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.21 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 11.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is 96.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

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.