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 report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

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

iRobot Stock Down 0.4 %

iRobot stock opened at $7.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. iRobot has a 1-year low of $5.83 and a 1-year high of $42.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.02 and a beta of 0.85.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.73 million. iRobot had a negative net margin of 25.29% and a negative return on equity of 128.49%. iRobot’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.73) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that iRobot will post -4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iRobot

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in iRobot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,986,963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $115,595,000 after acquiring an additional 34,042 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iRobot by 2.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 796,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,260,000 after purchasing an additional 21,982 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of iRobot in the first quarter worth approximately $4,083,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in iRobot by 185.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 196,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 127,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in iRobot by 2.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 163,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

iRobot Company Profile

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.