Napatree Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Napatree Capital LLC raised its stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,742 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,719,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,094,000 after purchasing an additional 258,871 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,917,000 after purchasing an additional 223,232 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 648.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 112,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,999,000 after purchasing an additional 97,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,275,000. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WHR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Whirlpool stock opened at $93.41 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $84.18 and a 12-month high of $135.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.94 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.21.

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

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.