Ascent Group LLC Purchases 366 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,597 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 190.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Whirlpool by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 90.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Whirlpool Price Performance

NYSE WHR traded down $1.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.06. 190,189 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,378,756. The company has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Whirlpool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $84.18 and a fifty-two week high of $148.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.36.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.89% and a return on equity of 27.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Whirlpool Co. will post 12 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WHR. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Whirlpool from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Whirlpool in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.75.

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.