Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.86.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lowered Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Cogent Communications stock opened at $75.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.12. Cogent Communications has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by $0.59. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The company had revenue of $260.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Cogent Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.985 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $3.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.19%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently 15.61%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.77, for a total transaction of $133,958.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 50,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,014.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Cogent Communications news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 50,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,557,014.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,444,627.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,870 shares of company stock worth $4,716,057. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 218,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,594,000 after buying an additional 24,185 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 175.1% in the fourth quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 37,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 23,934 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $27,942,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 327.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,129,000 after purchasing an additional 752,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,448 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.