BWS Financial Issues Pessimistic Estimate for IRDM Earnings

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) – Equities research analysts at BWS Financial dropped their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Iridium Communications in a research note issued on Monday, October 21st. BWS Financial analyst H. Khorsand now anticipates that the technology company will earn $0.14 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.16. BWS Financial currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Iridium Communications’ current full-year earnings is $0.81 per share. BWS Financial also issued estimates for Iridium Communications’ Q1 2025 earnings at $0.16 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.19 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.23 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $0.76 EPS.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share.

Separately, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $28.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.57 and a beta of 0.65. 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 one year low of $24.14 and a one year high of $41.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.39 and its 200 day moving average is $28.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $316,283,000 after buying an additional 336,989 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $92,639,000 after purchasing an additional 152,232 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,897,000 after purchasing an additional 385,872 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas 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, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,553,000 after buying an additional 1,574,280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 266.67%.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.