Short Interest in iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) Decreases By 17.3%

iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,684,464 shares, a decrease of 17.3% from the February 26th total of 5,661,766 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,122,890 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on IHRT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of iHeartMedia from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.25.

iHeartMedia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IHRT opened at $2.80 on Monday. iHeartMedia has a 1 year low of $0.95 and a 1 year high of $5.44. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3.20 and its 200-day moving average is $3.48. The company has a market capitalization of $421.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91, a P/E/G ratio of 26.85 and a beta of 1.70.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. iHeartMedia had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 12.24%. Analysts anticipate that iHeartMedia will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert W. Pittman acquired 32,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.25 per share, with a total value of $105,521.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,214,937 shares in the company, valued at $20,198,545.25. The trade was a 0.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of iHeartMedia

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of iHeartMedia by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in iHeartMedia during the third quarter worth $25,000. Xponance LLC acquired a new stake in iHeartMedia in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in iHeartMedia in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in iHeartMedia in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors own 93.89% of the company’s stock.

About iHeartMedia

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.