Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IRDM shares. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $117,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,764 shares in the company, valued at $1,480,684. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 184.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $47.47 on Tuesday. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $53.83. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.88. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.65.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

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