Versor Investments LP Raises Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 242.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,802 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $1,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 95.1% in the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,891,677 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,641,000 after buying an additional 2,383,962 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $106,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,093 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,061,465 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 26.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,198,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,059,000 after purchasing an additional 462,501 shares during the period. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,088,053 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,595,000 after purchasing an additional 567,164 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IRDM. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. BWS Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $25.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.47 and a 200 day moving average of $27.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.76. Iridium Communications Inc has a 12-month low of $19.91 and a 12-month high of $35.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $216.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.73 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 13.20%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Iridium Communications Profile

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.