Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 23,441 Shares of Whirlpool Corporation $WHR

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) by 421.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,441 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WHR. M&G PLC grew its stake in Whirlpool by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 115,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool in the third quarter worth about $1,164,000. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool in the third quarter worth about $326,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 151.4% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,839 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 63.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 624,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,171,000 after purchasing an additional 242,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of WHR traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,638,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,944,886. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.11. Whirlpool Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.50 and a fifty-two week high of $94.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.94). Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 0.93% and a positive return on equity of 0.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Corporation will post -1.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WHR shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Whirlpool from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $32.22.

About Whirlpool

Whirlpool Corporation is a home-appliance manufacturer headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Its products include refrigerators and freezers, ranges and ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, as well as related parts and accessories. The company sells products under brands including Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, JennAir and Amana. Its offerings serve residential customers, with products distributed across multiple international markets. Founded in 1911 as the Upton Machine Company, Whirlpool adopted its current name in 1949.