Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on IRDM. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 6.6 %

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $27.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.45. Iridium Communications has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $35.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.16. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. The company had revenue of $212.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.78 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.53, for a total value of $356,625.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 241,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,876,585.90. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,269,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,018,000 after buying an additional 36,851 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,829,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $82,099,000 after acquiring an additional 320,506 shares in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,827,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $82,028,000 after acquiring an additional 329,915 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Iridium Communications by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,507,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,774,000 after purchasing an additional 134,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,213,512 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,125,000 after purchasing an additional 683,777 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.