Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,100,000 shares, a growth of 12.3% from the August 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $28.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.92 and its 200-day moving average is $27.50. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $24.14 and a 1 year high of $51.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 134.95 and a beta of 0.64.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The business had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 266.67%.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574,280 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth $55,079,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,897,000 after buying an additional 385,872 shares in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 346,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services.