Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Raises Dividend to $0.99 Per Share

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.985 per share by the technology company on Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98.

Cogent Communications has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Cogent Communications has a dividend payout ratio of -115.7% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Cogent Communications to earn ($3.05) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $3.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -127.9%.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI stock traded up $2.10 on Friday, reaching $70.89. 154,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,672. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.97. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.41.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The technology company reported ($1.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $266.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.13 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 24.63% and a net margin of 114.09%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.79, for a total value of $94,775.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,158.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,640 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.79, for a total value of $94,775.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,158.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $126,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,907,580. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,440 shares of company stock valued at $9,828,016. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCOI has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.43.

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.