Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 75,568 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 85.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,568 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WHR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,536,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,775,000 after purchasing an additional 33,326 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,118,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,470,000 after acquiring an additional 98,444 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,808,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,065,000 after acquiring an additional 659,014 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,373,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,205,000 after purchasing an additional 224,990 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Whirlpool by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 937,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,374,000 after purchasing an additional 34,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WHR. StockNews.com cut shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.00.

Whirlpool Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WHR opened at $76.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.42. Whirlpool Co. has a 52-week low of $75.03 and a 52-week high of $135.49. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.03. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.14%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is 5,000.00%.

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.