Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,750 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $247,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 12,297 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Iridium Communications by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 115,054 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,613,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on IRDM shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. BWS Financial lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair upgraded Iridium Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock opened at $23.76 on Tuesday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $19.91 and a 1 year high of $35.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.76.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.03). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $216.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. Iridium Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Iridium Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

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.