Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 7,622 Shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR - Free Report) by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,409 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,622 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Whirlpool worth $3,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Whirlpool by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company's stock worth $216,094,000 after purchasing an additional 258,871 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 2.2% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Whirlpool by 39.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 86,182 shares of the company's stock worth $9,221,000 after buying an additional 24,414 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Whirlpool during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Whirlpool by 2.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WHR. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.50.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Shares of Whirlpool stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $111.42. 286,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,332. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.37. Whirlpool Co. has a 52 week low of $84.18 and a 52 week high of $125.68. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.44. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.45 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Whirlpool's payout ratio is currently 69.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Whirlpool news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total value of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,343,233.60. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Juan Carlos Puente sold 3,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $326,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,070 shares in the company, valued at $1,907,000. This trade represents a 14.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.