WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New Investment in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd opened a new position in Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter, buying 41,300 shares valued at about $718,000.
• Several major institutional investors also increased their stakes, and 84.36% of IRDM stock is now owned by institutions, indicating strong hedge fund interest.
• Iridium reported Q1 EPS of $0.20, below estimates of $0.27, though revenue of $219.06 million slightly beat expectations; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 41,300 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Iridium Communications by 265.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc raised its position in Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395,485 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company's stock worth $113,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,580 shares in the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc raised its position in Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the third quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company's stock worth $90,612,000 after acquiring an additional 961,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Iridium Communications by 124.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,581,142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,607,000 after acquiring an additional 877,760 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM opened at $45.61 on Thursday. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $53.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.07, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 2.21.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The firm had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,480,684. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.00.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company's unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium's core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.

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