Natixis Raises Stock Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Natixis lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,429 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Iridium Communications by 2.4% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 30,459 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Iridium Communications by 2.3% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 35,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $931,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in Iridium Communications by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 73,135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on IRDM. Barclays raised their target price on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $29.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 138.43 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.14 and a 52-week high of $54.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.49 and a 200 day moving average of $29.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.25.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 266.67%.

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.