Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives $38.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.6667.

IRDM has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair cut shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 10th. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $46.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.88. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.The company had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In related news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 85,454 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $4,296,627.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,017 shares in the company, valued at $14,179,814.76. This represents a 23.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy James Last sold 19,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.34, for a total transaction of $982,687.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 93,413 shares in the company, valued at $4,702,410.42. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 10,363.2% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.