Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Short Interest Up 10.6% in November

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days. Approximately 7.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock opened at $30.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.74 and a 200-day moving average of $28.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

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

Iridium Communications declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 254,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,489,277.36. The trade was a 13.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 143,049 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,296,000 after buying an additional 21,857 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 856,901 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,093,000 after buying an additional 137,924 shares in the last quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the third quarter worth $922,000. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 205.3% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 28,648 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 19,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,614,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.