StockNews.com Upgrades iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) to Hold

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

iRobot Stock Performance

Shares of IRBT stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $7.26. The stock had a trading volume of 585,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,007,229. iRobot has a 1-year low of $5.83 and a 1-year high of $42.14. The firm has a market cap of $208.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.81 and its 200-day moving average is $9.09.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported ($1.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.77) by ($0.19). iRobot had a negative return on equity of 128.49% and a negative net margin of 25.29%. The business had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.73) EPS. iRobot’s quarterly revenue was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that iRobot will post -4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in iRobot by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iRobot in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of iRobot by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 495,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,162,000 after purchasing an additional 43,131 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in iRobot in the 4th quarter worth about $6,623,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in iRobot by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 329,872 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,763,000 after purchasing an additional 33,356 shares in the last quarter. 77.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About iRobot

iRobot Corporation designs, builds, and sells robots and home innovation products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, and internationally. The company offers floor care products, including Roomba floor vacuuming robots; Roomba accessories and consumables, such as the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal, replacement dirt disposal bags for the Clean Base, filters, brushes, and batteries; Braava family of automatic floor mopping robots; and Braava accessories and consumables, which include cleaning solution, washable and disposable mopping pads, replacement tanks, and batteries, as well as subscription services.