Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $24.71, but opened at $25.48. Iridium Communications shares last traded at $27.21, with a volume of 196,193 shares.

The technology company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 1.95%. The company had revenue of $203.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 400.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on IRDM. TheStreet upgraded Iridium Communications from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BWS Financial lowered Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. William Blair lowered Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 2.4% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 30,459 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at $546,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $280,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,313 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,204,000 after buying an additional 62,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 691.4% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,939 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 200.46 and a beta of 0.85. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $27.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.05.

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.