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

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 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% indicating that 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 %

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.21. The stock had a trading volume of 883,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,256. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.62. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $24.14 and a 52 week high of $41.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $212.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.68 million. Analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $130,301.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the completion of 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. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.