Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Up 10.7% – Here’s Why

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) traded up 10.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.54 and last traded at $31.5830. 682,387 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 2,193,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRDM has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 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 report 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.40.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.87. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $212.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Iridium Communications’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 56.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the third quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

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.