Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Iridium hit a new 52‑week high, trading as high as $33.90 (last at $33.04), which is significantly above the analysts' average 12‑month price target of $25.40.
• Analyst coverage is mixed (4 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell; consensus "Hold") with recent notes including Morgan Stanley raising its target to $26 and Weiss moving to Hold; the company slightly beat EPS estimates ($0.24 vs. $0.23) but missed revenue expectations, pays a quarterly $0.15 dividend (~1.8% yield), and is ~84% institutionally owned.

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $33.90 and last traded at $33.0430, with a volume of 460771 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRDM has been the subject of several research reports. BWS Financial reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two 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 an average target price of $25.40.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.02 and a 200 day moving average of $20.09.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The company had revenue of $212.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $176,533,000 after buying an additional 677,258 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company's stock worth $113,317,000 after buying an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $91,265,000 after buying an additional 61,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $82,759,000 after acquiring an additional 725,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 0.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,343,670 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $75,840,000 after acquiring an additional 27,907 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Iridium Communications

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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