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

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on IRDM shares. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. New Street Research started coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Insider Transactions at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $67,419.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,793. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IRDM. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $47.47 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. Iridium Communications has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $53.83.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The business had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 60.61%.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company’s unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium’s core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.