Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 508,290 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,702 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $14,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Iridium Communications by 2,810.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 39,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 38,419 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,904,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $239,000. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at $249,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 1,750.0% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on IRDM. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have 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, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

Key Stories Impacting Iridium Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Iridium Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research upgraded Iridium Communications (IRDM) from “neutral” to “buy,” signaling improved confidence in the stock’s outlook. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: Iridium’s Q2 revenue came in ahead of estimates, helped by new satellite products and growth tied to Aireon and Rocket Lab-related strategic initiatives, which may support the company’s longer-term story. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced second-quarter 2026 results and said the pending acquisition by Rocket Lab is expected to close in mid-2027, keeping investors focused on strategic execution and deal completion. PR Newswire release
• Negative Sentiment: Q2 earnings missed analyst expectations, with EPS well below forecasts, which may limit upside despite the revenue beat. Zacks article

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $47.64 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1-year low of $15.65 and a 1-year high of $57.18. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 54.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.87. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $47.93 and a 200-day moving average of $34.79.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.71% and a net margin of 10.55%.The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

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.