Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $203.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.84 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.58%. Iridium Communications's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 5.5 %

Iridium Communications stock traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $26.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,129,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,105,167. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 200.46 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.05. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $24.14 and a 52 week high of $68.34.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 400.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IRDM shares. William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BWS Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IRDM. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 78.7% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 990 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

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.