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

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.25.

Separately, UBS Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI stock opened at $75.34 on Monday. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $50.80 and a 12 month high of $86.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.59 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.995 dividend. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 510.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.61, for a total value of $362,928.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,555,618. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John B. Chang sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $183,334.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 69,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,572,413. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,136 shares of company stock worth $1,939,749. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 10,984 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 38.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 128,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,242,000 after acquiring an additional 35,884 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Cogent Communications by 494.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 20,200 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 26.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 71,476 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,034,000 after acquiring an additional 15,038 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,887 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.