Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.40.

A number of brokerages have commented on IRDM. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 10.6%

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.68 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.60. Iridium Communications has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $33.34.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 44,358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 17,267 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 994,205 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,279,000 after acquiring an additional 106,856 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $193,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 48,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 15,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.