StockNews.com Lowers iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

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

iRobot Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRBT opened at $8.10 on Tuesday. iRobot has a 52-week low of $5.83 and a 52-week high of $42.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.94.

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

Institutional Trading of iRobot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of iRobot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,623,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of iRobot in the 1st quarter valued at $1,277,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of iRobot during the 1st quarter worth about $77,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in iRobot by 101.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 35,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 18,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 130.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,659 shares during the period. 77.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.