Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.75

Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of 1.75 per share on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%.

Whirlpool has raised its dividend payment by an average of 21.7% annually over the last three years. Whirlpool has a payout ratio of 47.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Whirlpool to earn $14.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.6%.

Whirlpool Stock Performance

NYSE:WHR traded down $1.55 on Monday, hitting $106.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,001,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,305,392. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.48. Whirlpool has a one year low of $98.40 and a one year high of $160.62.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. Whirlpool had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 2.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Whirlpool will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Whirlpool

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,001,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $792,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,657 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Whirlpool by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,210 shares of the company's stock worth $420,905,000 after purchasing an additional 558,391 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Whirlpool by 414.6% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 508,976 shares of the company's stock worth $75,731,000 after purchasing an additional 410,077 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Whirlpool by 147.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 633,276 shares of the company's stock worth $89,583,000 after purchasing an additional 377,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in Whirlpool by 161.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 300,904 shares of the company's stock worth $36,641,000 after purchasing an additional 185,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Whirlpool from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet upgraded Whirlpool from a "d+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Whirlpool from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Whirlpool from $120.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on Whirlpool in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $114.60.

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.

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