Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $138.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Whirlpool traded as high as $127.32 and last traded at $126.27, with a volume of 528620 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $120.67.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total value of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,343,233.60. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Whirlpool

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WHR. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Whirlpool in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,132,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 161.6% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 46.8% during the second 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. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Whirlpool by 72.5% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Whirlpool Trading Up 4.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.27.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 21.41%. Whirlpool’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.