Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT)

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded iRobot from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

iRobot Stock Performance

iRobot stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $7.79. The stock had a trading volume of 4,392,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,065,356. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.06 million, a PE ratio of -1.69 and a beta of 0.80. iRobot has a 12 month low of $5.83 and a 12 month high of $19.68. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $8.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.43.

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $193.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.41 million. iRobot had a negative net margin of 16.15% and a negative return on equity of 100.79%. iRobot's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($3.09) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that iRobot will post -5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iRobot

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IRBT. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iRobot by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,550 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of iRobot by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 3,285 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iRobot by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 15,595 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of iRobot during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in iRobot by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,141 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 5,709 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.