Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Stock Price Up 4%

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) rose 4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $49.99 and last traded at $49.47. Approximately 87,187 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 798,126 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.20.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The technology company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $193.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.42 million. Iridium Communications had a negative return on equity of 1.80% and a negative net margin of 2.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -346.64%.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 27th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 247.5% in the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 549 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.