Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Sells 58,395 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lessened its holdings in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 210,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,395 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $24,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Whirlpool by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,808,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,065,000 after acquiring an additional 659,014 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,468,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Whirlpool during the 4th quarter valued at $34,719,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Whirlpool by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,373,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,205,000 after buying an additional 224,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,917,000 after buying an additional 223,232 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.1 %

WHR stock opened at $76.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of -13.07 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Whirlpool Co. has a 12 month low of $73.72 and a 12 month high of $135.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $85.48 and its 200 day moving average is $103.26.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67 billion. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. The company’s revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.14%. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5,000.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Whirlpool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

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.