iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.3333.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IHRT. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of iHeartMedia from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut iHeartMedia from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

iHeartMedia Price Performance

IHRT opened at $3.34 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $501.53 million, a P/E ratio of -1.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.70. iHeartMedia has a one year low of $0.95 and a one year high of $5.44.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.64. iHeartMedia had a negative net margin of 10.37% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The firm had revenue of $997.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that iHeartMedia will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of iHeartMedia by 99.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,214,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,654,000 after buying an additional 1,105,976 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of iHeartMedia by 22.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,872,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 532,414 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in iHeartMedia in the first quarter valued at about $186,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in iHeartMedia by 2.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,307,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,815,000 after purchasing an additional 85,957 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in iHeartMedia by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,968,000 after buying an additional 186,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.89% of the company’s stock.

iHeartMedia Company Profile

iHeartMedia, Inc (NASDAQ: IHRT) is a leading media and entertainment company specializing in radio broadcasting, digital streaming and live events. The company operates more than 860 full-power AM and FM radio stations across the United States, delivering music, news, sports and talk programming to local markets. Through its flagship digital platform, iHeartRadio, the company provides listeners with free and subscription-based access to thousands of live radio stations, curated music playlists and on-demand podcasts.

Originally founded in 1972 as Clear Channel Communications, the business rebranded to iHeartMedia in 2014 to reflect the growing importance of its digital and event-driven offerings.