Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) Price Target to $79.00

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) had its price objective cut by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $85.00 to $79.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 17.28% from the stock’s current price.

WHR has been the topic of a number of other reports. TheStreet upgraded Whirlpool from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital started coverage on Whirlpool in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Whirlpool from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Whirlpool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.40.

Whirlpool Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WHR opened at $95.50 on Friday. Whirlpool has a 12-month low of $92.54 and a 12-month high of $160.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.00.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.17. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 36.24% and a net margin of 2.07%. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Whirlpool will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Whirlpool by 3,554.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,382,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,339,000 after buying an additional 1,344,601 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Whirlpool by 59.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,473,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,804,000 after acquiring an additional 924,128 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,954,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,296,000 after buying an additional 541,219 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Whirlpool by 689.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 454,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,741,000 after acquiring an additional 396,782 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Whirlpool during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

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.