Capital Fund Management S.A. Raises Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 51.4% in Q1, owning 124,288 shares worth approximately $3.4 million by quarter's end.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings, with American Century Companies Inc. leading with a 26.6% rise, totaling over 2.2 million shares.
• Iridium Communications recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, up from $0.14, representing a 2.4% dividend yield.

Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its position in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 51.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,288 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,199 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned approximately 0.11% of Iridium Communications worth $3,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,627 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 12,297 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 115,054 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,143,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 182.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,109 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 11,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.77. 388,159 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,398,164. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52-week low of $19.91 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.69 and a 200-day moving average of $27.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.03). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 13.20%.The business had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $39.00 target price (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.33.

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.