Avior Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,000 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,450 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 3.6% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Whirlpool by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 1.1% in the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 96.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 7.1% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. 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. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Whirlpool in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One 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 MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.60.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WHR opened at $104.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $110.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Whirlpool Co. has a 1-year low of $98.40 and a 1-year high of $160.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 2.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is currently 80.37%.

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.