Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) to Issue $0.14 Quarterly Dividend

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the technology company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th.

Iridium Communications has a payout ratio of 41.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Iridium Communications to earn $1.24 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 45.2%.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.74. 1,391,340 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,191,284. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.29. Iridium Communications has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $35.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.16. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. The company had revenue of $212.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.78 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on IRDM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Iridium Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.53, for a total transaction of $356,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 241,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,876,585.90. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Iridium Communications Company 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.