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

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

Several analysts recently issued reports on CCOI shares. StockNews.com raised Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 2.4 %

CCOI stock traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $71.32. The company had a trading volume of 710,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,097. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.44 and a beta of 0.40. Cogent Communications has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $86.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.10.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $252.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.64%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -93.49%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $103,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares in the company, valued at $740,325.12. This trade represents a 12.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.61, for a total transaction of $362,928.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,145 shares of company stock valued at $613,968. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 246.0% in the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 907,916 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $69,973,000 after acquiring an additional 645,521 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $39,845,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Cogent Communications by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,897,090 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $146,209,000 after purchasing an additional 368,129 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cogent Communications by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,855 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,738,000 after purchasing an additional 257,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 752,158 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,961,000 after purchasing an additional 235,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

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.