Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $24.71, but opened at $25.48. Iridium Communications shares last traded at $27.21, with a volume of 196,193 shares changing hands.

The technology company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $203.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Iridium Communications's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 400.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 359,276 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,957 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 0.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,739,982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $634,635,000 after purchasing an additional 71,031 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 70,873 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,934,000 after acquiring an additional 4,877 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 69,722 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,811,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,943 shares of the technology company's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 5.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $27.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.05.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.