March Appliance Data Sinks Whirlpool Corporation (WHR)

Published on April 17, 2017 at 1:24 pm by Insider Monkey Team in News

Shares of Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) are in the red today despite the broader market rally after initial reports showed softer-than-expected March appliance data. For the month, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers via Bloomberg believes shipments of large home appliances inched up to 7.84 million units. That’s up 0.3% year-over-year. Shipments of ranges, ovens, dishwashers, washers, dryers, and freezers increased 0.6% year-over-year to around 4.46 million units.

Given the strong economy, market expectations for the March data may have been higher than today’s print. With that said, shares of Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) haven’t performed too badly, falling 6.26% year-to-date. Shares are still up substantially from November when Donald Trump was elected President.

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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Smart money sentiment around Whirlpool has been relatively stable. Of the 742 elite funds we track, 30 funds owned $1.55 billion of Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) and accounted for 11.40% of the float on December 31, versus 34 funds and $1.47 billion respectively on September 30. In terms of individual activity in Q4, Edgar Wachenheim‘s Greenhaven Associates inched up its holdings by 3% to 2.66 million shares while David Tepper‘s Appaloosa Management Lp cut its stake by 52% to 566,936 shares.

The Bottom Line

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) shares are down after March appliance data came in under some market expectations. For more reading, check out ‘11 Most Expensive Appliances‘.