Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 4,085 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,085 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,085 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 2,656,227 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $109,330,000 after buying an additional 214,508 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $913,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 427.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 72,626 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 58,860 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 231,976 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,068,000 after purchasing an additional 21,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 346,118 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.43 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.15 and its 200-day moving average is $27.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.14 and a 1-year high of $48.11.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 266.67%.

Iridium Communications announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.