Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Sets New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $44.98 and last traded at $45.3070, with a volume of 1332852 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.57.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.80.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 49.33, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Iridium Communications

In related news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,480,684. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 11,985 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 37,465 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $6,345,000 after purchasing an additional 33,191 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $14,741,000 after purchasing an additional 75,060 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.