Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives $25.40 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.40.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 651.1% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 2,309,750 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,143,000 after buying an additional 2,002,232 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,131,000 after buying an additional 1,395,485 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,317,000 after buying an additional 1,156,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Heights Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $90,612,000 after buying an additional 961,440 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $27.96 on Thursday. Iridium Communications has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $33.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 56.60%.

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.