Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.00.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CCOI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of CCOI opened at $71.49 on Monday. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.94.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The technology company reported ($1.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $266.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.13 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 114.09% and a negative return on equity of 24.63%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.985 dividend. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.51%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $126,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,907,580. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $2,972,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,553,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,632,578.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $126,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 178,440 shares of company stock worth $9,828,016. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 313.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 505 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 109.9% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $136,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.