B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Whirlpool by 4.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in Whirlpool by 6.4% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in Whirlpool by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Whirlpool

In other news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $626,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,343,233.60. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of WHR opened at $113.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.05. The stock has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.46. Whirlpool Co. has a 1-year low of $84.18 and a 1-year high of $126.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.44. Whirlpool had a net margin of 3.19% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is 69.03%.

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.