Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.25.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $53.53. 411,446 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 459,215. Cogent Communications has a fifty-two week low of $47.54 and a fifty-two week high of $86.76. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.63 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.45.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The business had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. Analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is currently -93.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total transaction of $174,168.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,975,370. This represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $353,094.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,422,180. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,344 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,255,000 after buying an additional 11,858 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 52,770 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,067,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,994,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,196 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,235 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.