Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 13.7%, now holding nearly 1.95 million shares worth approximately $53 million.
• Iridium Communications announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, up from the previous $0.14, representing an annual yield of 2.4%.
• Despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year, Iridium's latest earnings report showed EPS of $0.20, missing expectations by $0.03.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,945,852 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 234,813 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.80% of Iridium Communications worth $53,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.2% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 3.7% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 13,402 shares of the technology company's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 14.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,100 shares of the technology company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,750 shares of the technology company's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on IRDM. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 25th. 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 report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,073,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,498,614. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.76. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1-year low of $19.91 and a 1-year high of $35.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.26.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share 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 given 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 yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

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.