Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.75

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of 1.75 per share on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%.

Whirlpool has raised its dividend by an average of 21.7% per year over the last three years. Whirlpool has a payout ratio of 47.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Whirlpool to earn $14.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.6%.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $106.51 on Tuesday. Whirlpool has a 1-year low of $98.40 and a 1-year high of $160.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.48.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 2.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Whirlpool will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital began coverage on Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Whirlpool

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WHR. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,001,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,657 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Whirlpool by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,905,000 after acquiring an additional 558,391 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Whirlpool by 414.6% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 508,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,731,000 after acquiring an additional 410,077 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 147.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 633,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,583,000 after acquiring an additional 377,554 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 161.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 300,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,641,000 after acquiring an additional 185,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% 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.