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

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) saw a large 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. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.67. The stock had a trading volume of 403,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,314. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 131.90 and a beta of 0.64. Iridium Communications has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $51.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.52.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 266.67%.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 7,684.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 109.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IRDM. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.