Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Short Interest Update

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 7,003,160 shares, a decline of 20.6% from the February 12th total of 8,818,552 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,644,109 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,644,109 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,317,000 after buying an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $91,265,000 after buying an additional 61,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $82,759,000 after buying an additional 725,856 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Iridium Communications by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,343,670 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,840,000 after buying an additional 27,907 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $24.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,526,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,900,646. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.47. Iridium Communications has a 52-week low of $15.65 and a 52-week high of $33.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.60.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $212.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BWS Financial reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.40.

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.