Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Trims Stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC reduced its position in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,802 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.12% of Whirlpool worth $7,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 99.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,709 shares of the company's stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 5,328 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Whirlpool by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 636,937 shares of the company's stock worth $72,917,000 after purchasing an additional 223,232 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Whirlpool in the 4th quarter valued at $343,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 99.4% during the 4th quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Whirlpool by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 440,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,099,000 after purchasing an additional 6,049 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Whirlpool Stock Performance

NYSE:WHR traded down $1.30 on Friday, reaching $79.65. 499,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,061,200. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.83. Whirlpool Co. has a 52 week low of $75.04 and a 52 week high of $135.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.54 and a beta of 1.31.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.31. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.79%. Whirlpool's payout ratio is -119.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WHR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Whirlpool from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.00.

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.