iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,450,000 shares, a growth of 12.4% from the August 31st total of 4,850,000 shares. Approximately 19.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

iRobot Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRBT opened at $8.69 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $8.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.91. iRobot has a 12 month low of $5.83 and a 12 month high of $42.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.90 million, a PE ratio of -1.12 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iRobot

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake in iRobot by 474.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of iRobot by 1,167.8% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of iRobot during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in iRobot by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in iRobot during the 1st quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of iRobot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th.

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.