Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Up 6.7% – Time to Buy?

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)’s share price traded up 6.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $40.16 and last traded at $40.5260. 921,024 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 2,239,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $212.94 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total value of $67,419.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,793. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 33.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 11,985 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 1,243.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 40,479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 37,465 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 232,231 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,345,000 after acquiring an additional 33,191 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the first quarter worth $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 539,566 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,741,000 after acquiring an additional 75,060 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.