iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRBT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded iRobot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iRobot

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC raised its stake in iRobot by 474.6% during the 2nd 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 period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in iRobot by 1,167.8% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in iRobot during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iRobot by 72.6% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in iRobot in the 1st quarter worth about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

iRobot Stock Up 1.5 %

IRBT opened at $8.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.34 and its 200 day moving average is $8.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.90 million, a P/E ratio of -1.12 and a beta of 0.84. iRobot has a fifty-two week low of $5.83 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 the consensus estimate of ($1.77) by ($0.19). iRobot had a negative return on equity of 128.49% and a negative net margin of 25.29%. The business had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.73) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that iRobot will post -4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.