Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Down 4.3% - Here's Why

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 4.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $32.09 and last traded at $32.12. 802,065 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 1,079,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 5.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $28.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.96. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.48 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The company had revenue of $201.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 266.67%.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company's stock worth $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company's stock worth $92,639,000 after acquiring an additional 152,232 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,897,000 after acquiring an additional 385,872 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 346,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574,280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

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.