Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Trading Down 7.1% – Should You Sell?

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) traded down 7.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $47.89 and last traded at $48.1180. 1,196,805 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 2,320,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.80.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 7.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 60.61%.

Insider Transactions at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $67,419.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,793. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

About Iridium Communications

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.