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

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,900,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the March 31st total of 3,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $30.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.33 and a 200-day moving average of $34.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 146.62 and a beta of 0.85. Iridium Communications has a 1-year low of $24.14 and a 1-year high of $65.69.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The technology company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $203.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.84 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 2.76% and a net margin of 3.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 247.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. William Blair cut Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Iridium Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet raised Iridium Communications from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James cut their target price on Iridium Communications from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 14,583,317 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $663,395,000 after acquiring an additional 58,818 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 2,656,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $109,330,000 after acquiring an additional 214,508 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,266,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $93,298,000 after acquiring an additional 97,167 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $89,480,000 after acquiring an additional 249,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 19.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 346,118 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently 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.