Short Interest in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Declines By 24.3%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 24.3% — short interest in Iridium dropped to 5,456,818 shares as of March 31 (down from 7,208,131 on March 15), representing 5.3% of shares outstanding and a days-to-cover ratio of 2.5.
• IRDM is trading near $36 (opened $36.12), with a market cap of $3.82 billion and a P/E of 34.08; the company slightly beat EPS estimates last quarter and declared a $0.15 quarterly dividend (1.7% yield, 56.6% payout ratio).
• Analysts are mixed with a consensus "Hold" and a $27.60 price target (range includes Barclays' $36 overweight), while insiders recently sold a small stake and institutional ownership is high at about 84.4%.

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,456,818 shares, a decline of 24.3% from the March 15th total of 7,208,131 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,156,311 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $36.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $37.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.90.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 24.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 56.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BWS Financial restated a "sell" rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Insider Transactions at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $117,490.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,199 shares of the technology company's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,350 shares of the technology company's stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,677 shares of the technology company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,053 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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