iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) Shares Down 5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell 5% to about $3.74 on Thursday with trading volume down roughly 87% from average, and analysts have turned cautious — Goldman Sachs cut IHRT to a "sell" and the consensus rating is "Reduce" with a $4.25 price target.
• iHeartMedia missed on quarterly EPS ($0.04 vs. $0.10 expected) despite a slight revenue beat of $1.12 billion, and the company shows negative profitability metrics with analysts forecasting about -$0.13 EPS for the year.
• CEO Robert W. Pittman bought 16,349 shares at an average $2.97 (now holding ~6.23M shares), indicating insider buying even as institutional ownership and analyst pressure remain high.

Shares of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT - Get Free Report) were down 5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $3.74 and last traded at $3.7350. Approximately 91,379 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 709,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on IHRT shares. 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 report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $4.25.

iHeartMedia Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $562.64 million, a PE ratio of -1.22, a PEG ratio of 37.30 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.18 and a 200 day moving average of $3.53.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. iHeartMedia had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 12.24%. Equities analysts expect that iHeartMedia, Inc. will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert W. Pittman acquired 16,349 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $2.97 per share, for a total transaction of $48,556.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,231,286 shares in the company, valued at $18,506,919.42. This trade represents a 0.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of iHeartMedia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in iHeartMedia by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,368 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in iHeartMedia in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Xponance LLC acquired a new stake in iHeartMedia in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of iHeartMedia during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of iHeartMedia during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. 93.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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