Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on iRobot Corporation (IRBT), Royal Gold, Inc (RGLD), and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM)
Analysts are weighing in on robotics stock
iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT), gold miner
Royal Gold, Inc (NASDAQ:RGLD), and cloud services provider
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on IRBT, RGLD, and AKAM.
- IRBT is trading 1.7% higher at $34.77, after Chardan Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a "buy" rating and a $42 price target -- a 22.8% premium over iRobot Corporation's Tuesday close. The security has been trending higher since mid-January, and has garnered extra attention since last week announcing the sale of its defense and security business to Arlington Capital Partners. But while the shares have outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 20 percentage points over the past three months, short interest still accounts for nearly 20% of the stock's total available float. This represents about 13 times IRBT's average daily trading volume -- meaning there's plenty of buying power left on the sidelines to propel the stock higher if bears abandon their positions.
- FBR Capital increased its price target on RGLD to $33 -- but the new estimate still implies expected downside from the stock's current perch at $37.86, which represents a loss of 0.7% from Tuesday's close. Royal Gold, Inc has gained 3.8% so far in 2016, as traders have flocked to the safe haven of gold amid the broad-market slump -- and the gold miner gained some momentum last week after reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings that topped expectations. Looking to the options pits, some bulls may be sweating today's drop -- the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 99% of the past year's worth of readings, at 6.88.
- AKAM has surged 18% to trade at $46.70 after crushing fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and announcing plans for a $1 billion stock buyback and structural reorganization.This news earned Akamai Technologies, Inc. a flood of analyst attention, including upgrades to "buy" from both B Riley and Craig Hallum, plus a price-target hike from Cowen and Company. AKAM shares have been falling since late October, and just touched a two-year low of $39.43 on Tuesday. Given this negative price action, speculative players were notably skeptical on AKAM ahead of earnings -- but quite a few shorts have already taken their profits off the table. Short interest on the stock fell by 12.4% in the latest reporting period, and now accounts for only 3.4% of AKAM's float.
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