Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Trading Up 3.5%

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) shares traded up 3.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $28.99 and last traded at $28.85. 213,666 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 1,054,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IRDM. BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.10 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.01 and its 200-day moving average is $27.51.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $201.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 266.67%.

Iridium Communications announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $316,283,000 after purchasing an additional 336,989 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,639,000 after purchasing an additional 152,232 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 2,656,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $109,330,000 after purchasing an additional 214,508 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after purchasing an additional 385,872 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 346,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

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.