SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,653 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $1,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Whirlpool by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,001,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,657 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 59.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,804,000 after purchasing an additional 924,128 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 21.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,905,000 after purchasing an additional 558,391 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Whirlpool by 38.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Whirlpool by 414.6% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 508,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,731,000 after purchasing an additional 410,077 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Whirlpool Price Performance

WHR opened at $117.88 on Thursday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.15. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.47. Whirlpool Co. has a 1 year low of $98.40 and a 1 year high of $160.62.

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

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.94%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet upgraded Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, 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 target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.17.

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.