Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) stock opened about 1.0% up on Wednesday as JPMorgan named it a top pick. Goldman Sachs also reiterated its confidence in the home appliance company resulting in another 2% increase later in the day.
JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have price targets of $278 and $280, respectively, on WHR, representing a roughly 29% upside. The news comes only a day after Whirlpool tossed Florida wiretapping suits.
Michael Rehaut addresses Wall Street’s fears about Whirlpool
Analyst Michael Rehaut of JPMorgan is positive that Whirlpool is well-positioned to stand a decline in demand. In his note on Wednesday, he addressed Wall Street’s fears related to the Michigan-based company’s margins in North American and said:
“By contrast, we believe North America’s margins are sustainable at 15% or better, driven by years of improvement in productivity and mix as well as last year’s permanent cost-cutting actions, while we estimate Europe’s ongoing turnaround represents at least $2/share of incremental earnings power over the next 2-3 years.”
At the time of writing, the $13.95 billion company has a price to earnings ratio of 10.40.
Susan Maklari highlights lower discounts as a good sign for Whirlpool
Goldman Sachs’ Susan Maklari, on the other hand, underscored that Whirlpool’s promotional discounts around the Independence Day holiday compared to rivals were the least at 6% versus 10% last year.
Lower discounts are a good sign for Whirlpool because it means that the home appliances manufacturer is passing higher costs to its customers, Maklari added. Last week, Mad Money host Jim Cramer also said he liked Whirlpool very much and would be a buyer on Cramer’s lightning round.
On a year-to-date basis, Whirlpool is
