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

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,800,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the October 31st total of 7,050,000 shares. Approximately 7.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.53. 1,357,357 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,605. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.21. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $24.14 and a 52 week high of $41.66. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The firm had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.68 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $130,301.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,388,855.56. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 13.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after buying an additional 385,872 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,323,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 130,370 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 21,522 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,939,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $1,899,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

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.