Madison Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool by 99.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 5,328 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,917,000 after acquiring an additional 223,232 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 99.4% in the fourth quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Whirlpool by 1.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 440,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,099,000 after acquiring an additional 6,049 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of WHR stock opened at $91.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.54 and a beta of 1.44. Whirlpool Co. has a one year low of $84.18 and a one year high of $135.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 21.89% and a negative net margin of 1.95%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.69%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently -119.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WHR. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

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.