Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives $34.25 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IRDM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. William Blair raised Iridium Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BWS Financial decreased their price objective on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 95.1% in the first quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,891,677 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $133,641,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383,962 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 37.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,893,145 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $106,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,093 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.5% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,889,045 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $106,210,000 after buying an additional 1,061,465 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $28,240,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,735,842 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,374,000 after buying an additional 841,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.75. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $19.91 and a 12 month high of $35.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.76.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $214.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.78 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.83%.

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.