Iridium Communications (IRDM) Competitors

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) and Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CCOI or IRDM?

92.5% of Cogent Communications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 11.4% of Cogent Communications shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Iridium Communications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, CCOI or IRDM?

Iridium Communications has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cogent Communications. Cogent Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Iridium Communications, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cogent Communications	$1.04B	2.14	-$204.07M	-$4.54	-9.93
Iridium Communications	$857.55M	2.38	$112.78M	$0.99	19.42

Which has more risk and volatility, CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CCOI or IRDM more profitable?

Iridium Communications has a net margin of 13.20% compared to Cogent Communications' net margin of -21.57%. Iridium Communications' return on equity of 20.28% beat Cogent Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cogent Communications	-21.57%	-117.56%	-6.78%
Iridium Communications	13.20%	20.28%	4.27%

Do analysts rate CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications presently has a consensus target price of $46.60, suggesting a potential upside of 3.33%. Iridium Communications has a consensus target price of $29.67, suggesting a potential upside of 54.27%. Given Iridium Communications' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Iridium Communications is more favorable than Cogent Communications.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cogent Communications	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Iridium Communications	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Does the media prefer CCOI or IRDM?

In the previous week, Cogent Communications had 5 more articles in the media than Iridium Communications. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Cogent Communications and 6 mentions for Iridium Communications. Cogent Communications' average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat Iridium Communications' score of 0.44 indicating that Cogent Communications is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cogent Communications	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Iridium Communications	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is CCOI or IRDM a better dividend stock?

Cogent Communications pays an annual dividend of $4.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.0%. Iridium Communications pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Cogent Communications pays out -89.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Iridium Communications pays out 60.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cogent Communications has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Iridium Communications has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Cogent Communications is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Iridium Communications beats Cogent Communications on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.