NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Iridium Communications (IRDM) was gaining 9.3% to $7.43 Monday after receiving an upgrade from Macquarie.
Macquarie upgraded Iridium to "outperform" from "neutral," raising its price target to $8.50 from $7. The analyst firm cited improved growth prospects following Iridium's equity raise.
The communications services provider recently rose $170 million in gross proceeds from a secondary offering.
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TheStreet Ratings team rates IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
"We rate IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS INC (IRDM) a BUY. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, expanding profit margins, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity."
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- IRDM's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 9.9%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
- The gross profit margin for IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS INC is currently very high, coming in at 71.32%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 16.87% is above that of the industry average.
- Even though the current debt-to-equity ratio is 1.11, it is still below the industry average, suggesting that this level of debt is acceptable within the Diversified Telecommunication Services industry. Even though the debt-to-equity ratio shows mixed results, the company's quick ratio of 2.94 is very high and demonstrates very strong liquidity.
- IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS INC has improved earnings per share by 11.8% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS INC reported lower earnings of $0.72 versus $0.82 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.78 versus $0.72).
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: IRDM Ratings Report
