Short Interest in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Increases By 10.6%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

IRDM stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.53. 1,357,357 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,605. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Iridium Communications has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $41.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.68 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total value of $1,127,253.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at $7,489,277.36. The trade was a 13.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $130,301.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 7,684.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 109.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Iridium Communications by 322.1% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,735 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

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.