Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.80.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair cut Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet upgraded Iridium Communications from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BWS Financial cut Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Iridium Communications from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,313 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 62,558 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 691.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,939 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,162 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,143 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,170 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 36,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 277,851 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,436,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $26.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.23 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.22. Iridium Communications has a 1-year low of $25.27 and a 1-year high of $68.34.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The technology company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $194.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.13 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 1.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.01) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is currently 400.00%.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services.