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

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.6667.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on IRDM shares. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Iridium Communications from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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 note on Wednesday, October 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 20,839 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $375,102.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 231,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,158,612. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $524,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 297,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,200,878.87. This trade represents a 11.22% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,967 shares of company stock worth $557,406. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 100.0% during the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,324,366 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,123,000 after buying an additional 662,183 shares in the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,165,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,693,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Finally, Graphene Investments SAS acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,479,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.6%

IRDM stock opened at $19.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $34.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.12.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $226.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $222.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.10%.

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.