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

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,340,000 shares, a drop of 25.3% from the March 15th total of 12,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.2 days. Approximately 9.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,162 shares of the technology company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the technology company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 14.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 15,330 shares of the technology company's stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on IRDM. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. William Blair raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BWS Financial lowered their target price on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM stock traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.99. 1,484,226 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,139,582. 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 market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $19.91 and a 12 month high of $35.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.77.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. The business had revenue of $214.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is 58.95%.

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.