Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 64.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 892 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Whirlpool by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 10,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Whirlpool by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Whirlpool in the fourth quarter valued at $73,468,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Whirlpool by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,536,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,775,000 after purchasing an additional 33,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WHR opened at $90.66 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $101.21 and a 200-day moving average of $107.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Whirlpool Co. has a 1-year low of $84.18 and a 1-year high of $135.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of -15.47 and a beta of 1.44.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.72%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently -119.45%.

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.