Synovus Financial Corp Makes New Investment in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR)

Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in Whirlpool Co. (NYSE:WHR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WHR. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Whirlpool in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 545.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Whirlpool by 1,010.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 422 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 90.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Whirlpool

In related news, CFO James W. Peters sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $626,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,343,233.60. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Whirlpool Price Performance

Whirlpool stock opened at $120.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.46. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $84.18 and a 1 year high of $126.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.88.

Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Whirlpool Co. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Whirlpool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. Whirlpool’s payout ratio is presently 69.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WHR. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Whirlpool from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Whirlpool from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.