Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 16th

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the technology company on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th.

Iridium Communications has a dividend payout ratio of 54.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Iridium Communications to earn $0.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.2%.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ IRDM traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $30.21. 883,622 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,079,256. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.75 and a 200-day moving average of $28.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $41.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 14.09%. The business had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.68 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $130,301.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,388,855.56. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total value of $1,127,253.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 13.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

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.