Zacks Research Brokers Decrease Earnings Estimates for Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2023 earnings estimates for shares of Iridium Communications in a report issued on Thursday, November 2nd. Zacks Research analyst V. Doshi now expects that the technology company will post earnings per share of ($0.16) for the year, down from their prior forecast of ($0.13). The consensus estimate for Iridium Communications’ current full-year earnings is ($0.14) per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Iridium Communications’ Q1 2024 earnings at $0.02 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.02 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.06 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $0.27 EPS.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The technology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $197.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.09 million. Iridium Communications had a negative return on equity of 2.26% and a negative net margin of 2.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share.

IRDM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $67.00 to $58.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 20th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, September 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $65.40.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $38.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -212.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $35.78 and a 1 year high of $68.34.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 549 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Dupont Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 27th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -288.87%.

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.