iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) Trading Up 9.9% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• IHRT rose 9.9% intraday to $5.6070 on Thursday, but trading volume was down about 78% versus its average session, suggesting the move may not be broadly driven.
• Analyst sentiment is negative: the consensus rating is "Reduce" with a $4.25 average target, and Goldman Sachs recently cut IHRT to a Sell with a $3.50 target.
• iHeart missed on EPS ($0.04 vs. $0.10 est.) while beating revenue ($1.12B), the company shows negative net margin and ROE, and insider CEO Robert Pittman bought 32,468 shares (insiders own 8.5%) amid large institutional increases in positions.

iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 9.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $5.56 and last traded at $5.6070. 179,162 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 828,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IHRT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of iHeartMedia from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $4.00 to $3.50 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, iHeartMedia currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $4.25.

iHeartMedia Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $852.03 million, a P/E ratio of -1.85, a PEG ratio of 50.34 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $3.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.64.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at iHeartMedia

In other news, CEO Robert W. Pittman purchased 32,468 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.25 per share, with a total value of $105,521.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 6,214,937 shares in the company, valued at $20,198,545.25. This trade represents a 0.53% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in iHeartMedia by 99.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,214,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,976 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in iHeartMedia by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,872,316 shares of the company's stock worth $4,739,000 after buying an additional 532,414 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in iHeartMedia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in iHeartMedia by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,822,306 shares of the company's stock worth $4,968,000 after buying an additional 186,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in iHeartMedia by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 168,006 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 11,101 shares during the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.