Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $19.62, but opened at $21.00. Iridium Communications shares last traded at $20.82, with a volume of 1,717,261 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on IRDM shares. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.64. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $226.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $222.13 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is currently 53.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other news, Director Robert H. Niehaus purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $524,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 297,363 shares in the company, valued at $5,200,878.87. This trade represents a 11.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Desch acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.33 per share, with a total value of $346,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,127,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,531,239.27. This trade represents a 1.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,967 shares of company stock valued at $557,406. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,074,000 after buying an additional 2,208,857 shares during the period. Man Group plc increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,485 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.7% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,580 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,612,000 after purchasing an additional 961,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,581,142 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,607,000 after purchasing an additional 877,760 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Iridium Communications

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.