Donaldson Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WHR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,536,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,919,000 after purchasing an additional 25,740 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 30.1% during 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 raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,213,000 after purchasing an additional 72,732 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,804,000 after purchasing an additional 924,128 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,296,000 after purchasing an additional 541,219 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of Whirlpool stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $105.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 116,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,288,317. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.19. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $98.40 and a one 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 stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.48.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.32. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.62%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.