Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Reaches New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Iridium hit a new 52-week high — the stock traded as high as $37.87 and was last around $35.97 (market cap ~$3.82B), yet the MarketBeat consensus price target is $27.60; analyst sentiment is mixed (4 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell) with Barclays recently raising its target to $36 and an "overweight" rating.
• Recent results showed a slight EPS beat ($0.24 vs. $0.23) but revenue missed estimates, and the company has notable leverage (debt/equity 3.8) alongside a PE of 34.15; Iridium also pays a $0.15 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~1.7%, payout ratio 56.6%).

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $37.87 and last traded at $35.97, with a volume of 445458 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BWS Financial reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.60.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 2.7%

The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.64 and a 200 day moving average of $20.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 2.48.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The firm's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is 56.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total value of $67,419.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 45,721 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,793. The trade was a 4.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.