Whitebox Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in iHeartMedia, Inc. $IHRT

Whitebox Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) by 220.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 275,000 shares during the period. Whitebox Advisors LLC’s holdings in iHeartMedia were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IHRT. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in iHeartMedia by 513.5% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 229,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 192,378 shares in the last quarter. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in iHeartMedia during the 4th quarter valued at $5,283,000. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd bought a new stake in iHeartMedia during the 4th quarter valued at $2,199,000. Sona Asset Management US LLC increased its holdings in shares of iHeartMedia by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Sona Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,874,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,474,000 after acquiring an additional 251,097 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of iHeartMedia by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. 93.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IHRT. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of iHeartMedia in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on iHeartMedia from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.25.

iHeartMedia Price Performance

Shares of IHRT opened at $3.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.85. iHeartMedia, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.54 and a twelve month high of $6.56. The company has a market cap of $535.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.92 and a beta of 2.19.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.61) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $884.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $871.50 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that iHeartMedia, Inc. will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

iHeartMedia 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.