Iridium Communications' (IRDM) Sell Rating Reiterated at BWS Financial

Key Points

• BWS Financial reaffirmed a sell rating on Iridium with a $16 price target, implying roughly a 56.6% downside from the stock's current level.
• Analysts are split: MarketBeat's consensus is Hold with a $27.60 target (2 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell), though firms like Barclays and Morgan Stanley have recently raised their price targets.
• Iridium's latest quarter saw EPS miss expectations ($0.20 vs. $0.27 estimate) while revenue was essentially in line at $219.1 million, up about 2% year-over-year.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at BWS Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $16.00 price objective on the technology company's stock. BWS Financial's price objective suggests a potential downside of 56.60% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,399,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,385,076. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48. Iridium Communications has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $44.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.16.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 651.1% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 2,309,750 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $40,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002,232 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395,485 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $113,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Heights Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $90,612,000 after acquiring an additional 961,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

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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