Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Raises Stock Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,229 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Edmp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 10,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $95.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.00. Whirlpool Co. has a 52-week low of $92.54 and a 52-week high of $160.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share 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 36.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.33%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WHR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.40.

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.