Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stock Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,005 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 23,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,141,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Up 17.1 %

Shares of Whirlpool stock opened at $101.91 on Thursday. Whirlpool Co. has a 52-week low of $84.18 and a 52-week high of $160.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.05 and a 200 day moving average of $105.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 1.48.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.17. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 35.16%. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.87%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WHR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $63.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

Whirlpool 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.