Short Interest in iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) Increases By 12.4%

iRobot Co. (NASDAQ:IRBT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 19.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on IRBT shares. StockNews.com lowered iRobot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of iRobot in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

iRobot Price Performance

IRBT stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.56. 1,180,961 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,951,166. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 stock has a market capitalization of $246.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10 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) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.77) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $166.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.73 million. iRobot had a negative return on equity of 128.49% and a negative net margin of 25.29%. The company’s revenue was down 29.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.73) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that iRobot will post -4.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in iRobot by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 9,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of iRobot by 474.6% during 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 period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of iRobot by 6.0% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 55,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iRobot by 72.6% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of iRobot by 2.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 163,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after buying an additional 3,956 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.

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.