Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 285,104 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Iridium Communications Inc by 38.4%, owning 1,026,681 shares valued at approximately $28 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Iridium Communications reported a quarterly net revenue of $216.91 million with an EPS of $0.20, missing analysts' expectations of $0.23.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.15 per share, which will be payable on September 30, 2023, reflecting a yield of 2.34%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 38.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,026,681 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 285,104 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.95% of Iridium Communications worth $28,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 37.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,893,145 shares of the technology company's stock worth $106,361,000 after buying an additional 1,064,093 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,213,512 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,125,000 after purchasing an additional 683,777 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,088,053 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,595,000 after purchasing an additional 567,164 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,062,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,841,000 after purchasing an additional 149,606 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,827,411 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,031,000 after purchasing an additional 280,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IRDM shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. William Blair upgraded Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BWS Financial cut their target price on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $39.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.80.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $24.89. The stock had a trading volume of 383,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,684. Iridium Communications Inc has a fifty-two week low of $19.91 and a fifty-two week high of $35.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.86 and a 200-day moving average of $27.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.79.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 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 analyst estimates of $214.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

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.