3,696 Shares in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) Purchased by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Whirlpool by 18.6% in the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 7,467 shares of the company's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Whirlpool during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 44.5% during the first quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 11,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 132.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 638 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 27.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WHR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $109.00 to $89.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Whirlpool from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $81.00 to $65.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Whirlpool from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.25.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

WHR stock traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $90.26. 2,581,089 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,037,848. Whirlpool Co. has a 52-week low of $73.72 and a 52-week high of $135.49. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.40 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock's 50-day moving average is $80.36 and its 200 day moving average is $98.24.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.67 billion. Whirlpool had a negative net margin of 1.95% and a positive return on equity of 21.89%. The firm's revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Whirlpool Co. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Whirlpool's payout ratio is 5,000.00%.

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.