Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Sets New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $44.98 and last traded at $45.3070, with a volume of 1332852 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.57.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.80.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.25 and a 200 day moving average of $24.89. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.79.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The company had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 2,459.5% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 345,226 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,028,000 after buying an additional 331,738 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $90,612,000 after acquiring an additional 961,440 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 323.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 310,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,427,000 after acquiring an additional 237,456 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 86.4% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 776,576 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,558,000 after acquiring an additional 360,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,533,000 after acquiring an additional 677,258 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.