Nuveen LLC Takes $15.76 Million Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications Inc worth approximately $15.76 million, owning 0.53% of the company by the end of the first quarter.
• Iridium Communications declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.15 per share, representing a yield of 2.5% and a dividend payout ratio of 56.57%.
• The company reported $216.91 million in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, despite missing earnings per share estimates.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 576,970 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $15,763,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.53% of Iridium Communications at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 valued at $247,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,297 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,705 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $24.13 on Thursday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $19.91 and a 1 year high of $35.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.76. The company's fifty day moving average is $28.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.44.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRDM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BWS Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $39.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications 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.

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