Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

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

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, April 24th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $45.39 on Tuesday. Iridium Communications has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $53.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.88.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued 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 return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The firm had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 33.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 11,985 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 1,243.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 40,479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 37,465 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 16.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 232,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,345,000 after acquiring an additional 33,191 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 16.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 539,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after acquiring an additional 75,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.