Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Stock Price Up 6.2% – What’s Next?

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) shares traded up 6.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $23.95 and last traded at $23.8790. 978,847 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 2,251,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BWS Financial reissued a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.40.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.51. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 2.48.

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. The company had revenue of $212.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 24.01%. Iridium Communications’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the 4th 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. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 184.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $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.