Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.20.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IRDM. William Blair downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $43.76 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.50. Iridium Communications has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 EPS 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 business had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Morgan sold 33,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $1,671,217.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,287,254.85. This represents a 21.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 209,233 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total transaction of $10,507,681.26. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,928,127.32. This represents a 78.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 381,688 shares of company stock valued at $19,146,390. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $737,587,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $62,751,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 50.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,270,799 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,553,000 after purchasing an additional 766,171 shares during the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $25,725,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter worth $22,842,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc is a global provider of satellite-based voice and data communications. The company operates the Iridium satellite network, a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites designed to provide coverage across the world, including oceans, airways, polar regions and other areas beyond the reach of traditional terrestrial networks.

Iridium serves commercial, government and industrial customers through a range of products and services. Its offerings include satellite phones, push-to-talk communications, two-way messaging, Internet of Things connectivity and Iridium Certus broadband services.