Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.6667.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IRDM. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Raymond James Financial cut Iridium Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Iridium Communications from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 20,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $375,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 231,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,158,612. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Matthew J. Desch purchased 20,000 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.33 per share, for a total transaction of $346,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,127,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,531,239.27. This trade represents a 1.81% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,967 shares of company stock valued at $557,406 in the last ninety days. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth $30,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of IRDM opened at $17.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.61. Iridium Communications has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $34.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.67.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.44%.The business had revenue of $226.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $222.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.10%.

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.