Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Short Interest Update

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, an increase of 15.3% from the December 15th total of 3,140,000 shares. Approximately 8.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 404,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:CCOI traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.60. 217,042 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,608. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. Cogent Communications has a 1-year low of $50.80 and a 1-year high of $86.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.08 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.32 and a 200 day moving average of $74.41.

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

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.995 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $3.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.48%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 510.26%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.61, for a total transaction of $362,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 33,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,555,618. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.76, for a total value of $69,168.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,623.04. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,136 shares of company stock valued at $1,939,749 over the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Cogent Communications by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 7,803 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth $630,000. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth $1,720,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 56,595 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 20,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 609,821 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,298,000 after acquiring an additional 16,527 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

About Cogent Communications

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.