Impax Asset Management Group plc Invests $697,000 in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 22,902 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574,280 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 18.5% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after purchasing an additional 385,872 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $316,283,000 after purchasing an additional 336,989 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 429.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 334,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,902,000 after buying an additional 271,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $92,639,000 after buying an additional 152,232 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 4.5 %

IRDM stock opened at $28.31 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $41.66. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The firm had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.68 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.58%.

Iridium Communications announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on IRDM shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 182,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,388,855.56. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 254,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. This represents a 13.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Iridium Communications 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.