Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Short Interest Down 35.3% in July

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) saw a large decline in short interest in 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. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,225,094 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares in the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $91,265,000 after buying an additional 61,430 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396,642 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,044,000 after buying an additional 224,322 shares in the last quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,369,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 112,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after buying an additional 45,400 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $47.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.09 and its 200 day moving average is $35.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $57.18. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 53.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.87.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.The business had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Iridium Communications will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.