Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Receives $75.75 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.75.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CCOI. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total value of $174,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,975,370. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $353,094.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new position in Cogent Communications in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of CCOI opened at $49.89 on Friday. Cogent Communications has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 63.96 and a beta of 0.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.04). Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The business had revenue of $247.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.38) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.10%. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -100.75%.

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.