Select Equity Group L.P. Raises Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc by 18.1%, owning 887,168 shares worth approximately $24.24 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.14 to $0.15 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 56.57%.
• Iridium Communications reported quarterly earnings of $0.20 EPS, missing estimates of $0.23 EPS, but had a 7.9% year-over-year revenue increase totaling $216.91 million.

Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 887,168 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 135,980 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. owned about 0.82% of Iridium Communications worth $24,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 129.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $39.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. BWS Financial lowered Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 2.5%

NASDAQ IRDM traded down $0.46 on Friday, reaching $17.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,347,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,525. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. Iridium Communications Inc has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $35.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.70.

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

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.