Cerity Partners LLC Has $2.91 Million Stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,916 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WHR. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 2,398 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. Edmp Inc. raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 10,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Cubic Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Cubic Asset Management LLC now owns 8,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,611,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WHR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet raised shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.60.

Whirlpool Price Performance

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

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

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

Whirlpool Profile

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.