iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the four ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $4.25.

IHRT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of iHeartMedia from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other iHeartMedia news, CEO Robert W. Pittman purchased 16,349 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.97 per share, for a total transaction of $48,556.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,231,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,506,919.42. This represents a 0.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iHeartMedia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IHRT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in iHeartMedia by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in iHeartMedia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Xponance LLC bought a new stake in iHeartMedia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in iHeartMedia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of iHeartMedia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 93.89% of the company’s stock.

iHeartMedia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IHRT opened at $2.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $400.93 million, a PE ratio of -0.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.70. iHeartMedia has a 52-week low of $0.95 and a 52-week high of $5.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.44 and a 200 day moving average of $3.43.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. iHeartMedia had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 12.24%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that iHeartMedia will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.