Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP raised its position in Iridium Communications by 12.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,533 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 57.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,548 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 9,359 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 28.4% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 237,103 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,312,000 after buying an additional 52,513 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 174.4% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 25,378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 16,130 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $519,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $27.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.50. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $24.14 and a 52 week high of $51.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.52 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 266.67%.

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.