AIA Group Ltd Invests $474,000 in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 41,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,007,000 after buying an additional 6,984 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 471.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 69,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,262,000 after buying an additional 56,978 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool in the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 79,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,733,000 after buying an additional 25,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of Whirlpool stock traded up $1.44 on Friday, reaching $109.88. The stock had a trading volume of 891,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,393,815. Whirlpool Co. has a 1 year low of $84.18 and a 1 year high of $159.66. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $93.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.92.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.17. Whirlpool had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 35.16%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.37 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Whirlpool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Whirlpool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $85.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $63.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

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.