Cogeco Communications (TSE:CCA) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSE:CCA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$72.36 and last traded at C$72.13, with a volume of 60570 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$71.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CCA. National Bankshares raised shares of Cogeco Communications from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$64.00 to C$80.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Cogeco Communications from C$70.00 to C$80.00 in a report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Cogeco Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from C$65.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Cogeco Communications from C$76.00 to C$79.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Cogeco Communications from C$73.50 to C$77.50 in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cogeco Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$75.50.

Cogeco Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$68.40 and a 200-day moving average of C$60.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.41.

Cogeco Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 28th will be given a $0.922 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.11%. This is an increase from Cogeco Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Cogeco Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.62%.

About Cogeco Communications

Cogeco Communications Inc operates as a telecommunications corporation in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Canadian Telecommunications and American Telecommunications. The company offers Internet, video, and Internet protocol (IP) based telephony services to residential and small business customers through its two-way broadband fiber networks.