Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Short Interest Down 54.0% in June

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,367,799 shares, a decrease of 54.0% from the June 15th total of 9,488,045 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,207,739 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 651.1% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 2,309,750 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002,232 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,485 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 124.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,581,142 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,607,000 after purchasing an additional 877,760 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $82,759,000 after purchasing an additional 725,856 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.29. 240,421 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,512,725. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. Iridium Communications has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.87.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The company had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 60.61%.

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.