Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Upgraded at New Street Research

New Street Research upgraded shares of Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, April 27th. William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $45.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 52.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.87. Iridium Communications has a 1-year low of $15.65 and a 1-year high of $57.18.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Iridium Communications will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 10,363.2% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.