Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Iridium Communications Inc has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from seven brokerages, with one hold rating and five buy ratings, alongside a strong buy rating from one analyst.
• The average 12-month price target set by brokers for Iridium Communications is $34.33, reflecting optimism about the company’s performance.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.14 to $0.15 per share, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IRDM. Oppenheimer began coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BWS Financial dropped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair raised Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 129.8% during 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 Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth 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 worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $24.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.62. Iridium Communications has a 12-month low of $19.91 and a 12-month high of $35.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The firm had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

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.

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