Legend Financial Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Whirlpool by 323.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Whirlpool during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Whirlpool during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Whirlpool by 545.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Whirlpool by 1,010.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,343,233.60. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WHR traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $113.64. 560,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 581,091. Whirlpool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $84.18 and a fifty-two week high of $126.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 3.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.45 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.16%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.03%.

Whirlpool Company 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.