Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.80.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on IRDM shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. William Blair downgraded Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BWS Financial cut Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TheStreet raised Iridium Communications from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $26.30 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.45. Iridium Communications has a 12-month low of $25.27 and a 12-month high of $68.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 202.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $194.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.13 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 1.95%. Iridium Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 400.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 247.5% during the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 549 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

About Iridium Communications

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.