iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) Trading Up 8.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) were up 8.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $3.65 and last traded at $3.6250. Approximately 627,324 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 600,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on IHRT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut iHeartMedia from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on iHeartMedia from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, iHeartMedia presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.33.

iHeartMedia Stock Up 7.5%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $539.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.70.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $997.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. iHeartMedia had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 10.37%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that iHeartMedia, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iHeartMedia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IHRT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in iHeartMedia by 99.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,214,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,976 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 532,414 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in iHeartMedia during the 1st quarter worth about $186,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in iHeartMedia by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,307,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,815,000 after purchasing an additional 85,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 186,402 shares during the period. 93.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.