Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $37.87 and last traded at $35.97, with a volume of 445458 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on IRDM shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.60.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 5.2%

The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.02.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The firm had revenue of $212.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 47,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

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.