Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.25.

CCOI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $75.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.15 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.12 and its 200-day moving average is $73.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $50.80 and a 12 month high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.34) by $0.01. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The firm had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.13) earnings per share. Cogent Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.995 per share. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $3.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 510.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $108,783.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $831,424.44. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.58, for a total transaction of $391,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,219,830. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,136 shares of company stock worth $1,939,749 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 204.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 72.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 127.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 787 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides high-speed Internet access, private network, and data center colocation space services in North America, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. The company offers on-net Internet access and private network services to law firms, financial services firms, and advertising and marketing firms, as well as heath care providers, educational institutions and other professional services businesses, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, media service providers, mobile phone operators, content delivery network companies, and commercial content and application service providers.