Panagora Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Iridium Communications Inc, raising its position by 2,164.2% to own 233,822 shares, valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Iridium recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.14 to $0.15 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $0.60 and a dividend yield of 2.4%.
• The company's latest earnings report indicated a missed EPS estimate of $0.20 against the anticipated $0.23, while revenue showed a 7.9% increase year-over-year, totaling $216.91 million.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 2,164.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,822 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 223,495 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.22% of Iridium Communications worth $6,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 129.8% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $0.50 on Friday, reaching $25.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,799,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,401,906. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $27.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.05. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $19.91 and a 1 year high of $35.85.

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

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on IRDM shares. Barclays reduced their price objective 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 price objective (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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 research 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's stock. 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.