Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Stock Price Up 5.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Iridium Communications shares rose 5.1% after Oppenheimer boosted its price target from $48 to $60 and reiterated an outperform rating. The stock traded as high as $52.65 during the session.
• Analyst opinion on IRDM remains mixed overall, with MarketBeat data showing a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $34.00. Recent updates included a mix of buy, hold, and sell calls from other firms.
• The company recently reported Q1 EPS of $0.20, missing estimates, while revenue came in roughly in line at $219.06 million and rose 2% year over year. Iridium also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable June 30.

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 5.1% on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $60.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Iridium Communications traded as high as $52.65 and last traded at $52.12. 303,588 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 2,314,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.60.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. New Street Research started 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 on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.00.

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $67,419.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,508,793. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.7% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $113,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $91,265,000 after purchasing an additional 61,430 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $82,759,000 after purchasing an additional 725,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the third 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. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

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's 50 day moving average price is $38.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.66, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.89.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The company had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Iridium Communications's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

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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