Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Short Interest Update

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,340,000 shares, a decline of 25.3% from the March 15th total of 12,510,000 shares. Currently, 9.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.3 %

IRDM stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.77. The company had a trading volume of 738,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,112,888. Iridium Communications has a fifty-two week low of $22.18 and a fifty-two week high of $35.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.93.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.16. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The company had revenue of $212.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.78 million. Analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IRDM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Iridium Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 631,852 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,336,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 248,602 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,264,000 after acquiring an additional 57,690 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 369.5% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,562 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 54,747 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 376.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,858 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.