Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Loop Capital

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Loop Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $88.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital’s price target suggests a potential upside of 6.04% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on WHR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Whirlpool in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Longbow Research upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.83.

Whirlpool Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:WHR opened at $82.99 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.51 and a 200-day moving average of $93.05. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.32 and a beta of 1.17. Whirlpool has a twelve month low of $73.72 and a twelve month high of $135.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. Whirlpool had a positive return on equity of 20.81% and a negative net margin of 0.95%. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Whirlpool will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WHR. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Whirlpool in the first quarter worth approximately $82,461,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,808,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,065,000 after buying an additional 659,014 shares during the period. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the 1st quarter worth $32,788,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Whirlpool by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,723,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,343,000 after purchasing an additional 350,397 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Whirlpool in the 1st quarter valued at $30,621,000. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.