Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

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

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the third quarter worth $32,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 5.2%

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $47.32 on Tuesday. 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 $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 47.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.42 and its 200 day moving average is $28.44. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $53.83.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.