iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) Shares Up 12.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 12.4% on Friday to $4.2050 on below‑average volume, valuing iHeartMedia at about $617.6 million.
• Analysts' consensus rating is Reduce with a $4.25 price target, after downgrades including Goldman Sachs cutting to a Sell and lowering its target to $3.50 and Weiss Ratings reiterating a Sell (D‑).
• Operationally the stock looks challenged — the company missed quarterly EPS ($0.04 vs. $0.10), has negative net margin and ROE and is forecast to post -$0.13 EPS for the year — yet CEO Robert Pittman bought 16,349 shares and institutions own roughly 94% of the stock.

iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT - Get Free Report) shares shot up 12.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $4.17 and last traded at $4.2050. 347,245 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 708,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on IHRT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of iHeartMedia from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, iHeartMedia presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $4.25.

iHeartMedia Stock Up 9.6%

The company has a market cap of $617.63 million, a PE ratio of -1.34, a P/E/G ratio of 37.68 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's 50 day moving average is $3.19 and its 200-day moving average is $3.53.

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

Insider Transactions at iHeartMedia

In other iHeartMedia news, CEO Robert W. Pittman purchased 16,349 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.97 per share, with a total value of $48,556.53. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,231,286 shares in the company, valued at $18,506,919.42. This trade represents a 0.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iHeartMedia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IHRT. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,105,976 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $4,739,000 after acquiring an additional 532,414 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of iHeartMedia in the first quarter valued at $186,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of iHeartMedia by 7.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,306 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,968,000 after acquiring an additional 186,402 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of iHeartMedia by 7.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 168,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 11,101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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