Short Interest in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Decreases By 35.3%

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,826,191 shares, a decline of 35.3% from the June 30th total of 4,367,799 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,225,094 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 888,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,379. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.76. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.75, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.87. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $15.65 and a 1 year high of $57.18.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.19). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Iridium Communications by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 11,985 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 1,243.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 40,479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 37,465 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 232,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,345,000 after purchasing an additional 33,191 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 539,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after purchasing an additional 75,060 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company’s unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium’s core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.