Analyst Upgrades: iRobot, Royal Gold, Akamai Technologies

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on iRobot Corporation (IRBT), Royal Gold, Inc (RGLD), and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM)

Feb 10, 2016 at 10:12 AM

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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