Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) by 30.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 127,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,761 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Whirlpool were worth $13,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 981,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,304,000 after purchasing an additional 312,729 shares during the last quarter. RWWM Inc. purchased a new stake in Whirlpool during the second quarter valued at about $30,174,000. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Whirlpool by 23.8% during the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,402,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,381,000 after buying an additional 269,976 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 240.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 375,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,125,000 after buying an additional 265,418 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Whirlpool by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,019,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,094,000 after acquiring an additional 258,871 shares during the period. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Whirlpool Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Whirlpool stock opened at $115.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Whirlpool Co. has a 12-month low of $84.18 and a 12-month high of $126.30. The company has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.25.

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

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.08%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is 69.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Whirlpool news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,570 shares in the company, 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 this link. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WHR. Bank of America lifted their price target on Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Whirlpool from $76.00 to $74.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Whirlpool currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

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.