Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.75

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of 1.75 per share on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%.

Whirlpool has increased its dividend payment by an average of 21.7% per year over the last three years. Whirlpool has a payout ratio of 47.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Whirlpool to earn $14.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.6%.

Whirlpool Trading Down 0.9 %

Whirlpool stock opened at $105.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.99. Whirlpool has a 52 week low of $98.40 and a 52 week high of $160.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Whirlpool will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Putnam Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Whirlpool during the third quarter worth about $204,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Whirlpool by 7.1% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Whirlpool by 16.8% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 67.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 705.9% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WHR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.60.

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.