Semanteon Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 4,280 Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WHR. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 3,554.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,382,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,601 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in 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 buying an additional 924,128 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Whirlpool by 38.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,296,000 after buying an additional 541,219 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Whirlpool by 689.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 454,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,741,000 after buying an additional 396,782 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Whirlpool by 339.6% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 132,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,654,000 after buying an additional 102,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of Whirlpool stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,516,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,095. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Whirlpool Co. has a 12-month low of $91.90 and a 12-month high of $160.62. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $109.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.00.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.17. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 36.24% and a net margin of 2.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.85 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.40%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet raised Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.40.

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.