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

StockNews.com lowered shares of iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of iRobot in a research note on Thursday.

iRobot Stock Down 6.0 %

NASDAQ IRBT traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $7.64. 1,582,363 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,154,953. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.32. iRobot has a one year low of $6.48 and a one year high of $42.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $219.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.89.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) last posted its 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 return on equity of 99.56% and a negative net margin of 24.42%. The business had revenue of $166.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.73) earnings per share. iRobot’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that iRobot will post -4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iRobot

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 1.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 2.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 796,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,260,000 after buying an additional 21,982 shares in the last quarter. Segantii Capital Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Segantii Capital Management Ltd now owns 684,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,486,000 after buying an additional 234,397 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of iRobot by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 495,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,162,000 after buying an additional 43,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of iRobot in the first quarter valued at $4,083,000. 77.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.