Opinicus Capital Inc. Purchases New Position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Whirlpool by 100.8% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 104,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,721,000 after acquiring an additional 3,265 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in Whirlpool by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Whirlpool in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $478,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WHR traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,579,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,280,114. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.48. Whirlpool Co. has a 12-month low of $91.90 and a 12-month high of $160.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $109.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.79.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 35.16% and a net margin of 2.07%. Whirlpool’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.40%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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