Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th.

Iridium Communications has a 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 Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Monday, hitting $31.55. 956,333 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,080,198. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $24.14 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Iridium Communications news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 254,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. The trade was a 13.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.