GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,399 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at $913,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 427.6% in the first 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. grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 10.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 231,976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,068,000 after purchasing an additional 21,769 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the 1st 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. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $544,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research 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.com, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of IRDM opened at $30.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Iridium Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $44.63. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm had revenue of $201.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 266.67%.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.