William Blair Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for IRDM

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) – William Blair dropped their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Iridium Communications in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, October 17th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now forecasts that the technology company will post earnings of $0.13 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.16. The consensus estimate for Iridium Communications’ current full-year earnings is $0.81 per share.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The company had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. Iridium Communications’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 5.9 %

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.73 on Monday. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.57 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 266.67%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at $913,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 427.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 72,626 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 58,860 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 10.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 231,976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,068,000 after purchasing an additional 21,769 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 346,118 shares during the period. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $544,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

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.