Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Expected to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $0.18 Per Share

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Iridium Communications in a research report issued on Monday, October 14th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the technology company will post earnings of $0.18 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.19. The consensus estimate for Iridium Communications’ current full-year earnings is $0.81 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Iridium Communications’ FY2024 earnings at $0.80 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.77 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.20 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BWS Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $30.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.25. Iridium Communications has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $44.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.81 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the first quarter worth $280,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the first quarter worth $546,000. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 2.4% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 30,459 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 19.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 346,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 47.2% in the first quarter. Anchor Capital Management Company LLC now owns 623,941 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,322,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 266.67%.

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.