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

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 position in shares of Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Iridium Communications by 14.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRDM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:IRDM traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.89. 2,073,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,523,532. Iridium Communications Inc has a 12-month low of $19.91 and a 12-month high of $35.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.78.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $216.91 million for 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 company's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

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.