LVZ Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,900 Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

LVZ Inc. bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,118,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,470,000 after buying an additional 98,444 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,650,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,591,000 after acquiring an additional 15,752 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,033,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,936 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 903,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,664,000 after buying an additional 11,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Whirlpool by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,917,000 after acquiring an additional 223,232 shares in the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on WHR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Whirlpool Price Performance

WHR stock opened at $90.80 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $112.77 and its 200-day moving average is $108.92. Whirlpool Co. has a 1 year low of $84.18 and a 1 year high of $135.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of -15.49 and a beta of 1.43.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.71%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -119.45%.

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.