Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Reaches New 1-Year Low Following Weak Earnings

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 20th, 2023

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM – Get Free Report)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $40.07 and last traded at $41.52, with a volume of 80687 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.77.

The technology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.05). Iridium Communications had a negative net margin of 2.53% and a negative return on equity of 1.80%. The firm had revenue of $197.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. Iridium Communications’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is currently -346.64%.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on IRDM shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Iridium Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Iridium Communications from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded Iridium Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.20.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Iridium Communications

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,739,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $634,635,000 after acquiring an additional 71,031 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,774,070 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $566,786,000 after buying an additional 213,935 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,722,754 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $311,381,000 after buying an additional 26,978 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,120,966 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $227,217,000 after buying an additional 110,188 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,756,866 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,157,000 after buying an additional 195,093 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.30% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -265.18 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.66.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.