William Blair Issues Pessimistic Forecast for IRDM Earnings

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) - Investment analysts at William Blair cut their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Iridium Communications in a report issued 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

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

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Iridium Communications stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $29.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,640,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,523. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.00. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $24.14 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.57 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 266.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 7,684.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 109.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 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.