Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Hits New 1-Year High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $86.70 and last traded at $86.29, with a volume of 430996 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $84.70.

The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.34) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $257.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.13) earnings per share.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.995 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently 510.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CCOI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cogent Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In related news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.77, for a total value of $133,958.40. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 50,982 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,014.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.77, for a total transaction of $133,958.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 50,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,014.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,444,627.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,870 shares of company stock worth $4,716,057 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter worth $27,942,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Cogent Communications by 327.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,129,000 after buying an additional 752,133 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 289.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,020 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 7,448 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 738,664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,257,000 after acquiring an additional 105,164 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 23,015 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 1.9 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.37 and a beta of 0.40.

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.