Short Interest in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Grows By 24.9%

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,210,000 shares, a growth of 24.9% from the May 15th total of 4,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 710,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.3 days. Currently, 11.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $46.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.15 and its 200-day moving average is $64.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.89, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. Cogent Communications has a 52 week low of $43.65 and a 52 week high of $86.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $247.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.81 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 18.76% and a negative return on equity of 70.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.38) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.65%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -100.75%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 20,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,131,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,090,861.07. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $115,080.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 38,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,870. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 445,500 shares of company stock valued at $21,285,069. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $394,182,000 after purchasing an additional 43,523 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 30.4% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,012,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $123,374,000 after buying an additional 469,028 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,897,090 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $146,209,000 after buying an additional 368,129 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,855 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,738,000 after buying an additional 257,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 246.0% during 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. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CCOI shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.75.

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.