Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Now Covered by New Street Research

Research analysts at New Street Research started coverage on shares of Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. New Street Research’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 7.17% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on IRDM. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.80.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $43.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Iridium Communications has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $44.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.79.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,480,684. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

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

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.