Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Receives $57.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Key Points

• Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six research firms, with an average target price of $57.50.
• Insider selling activity was notable, with CEO Dave Schaeffer selling over 1.8 million shares, representing a 54.84% decrease in his ownership.
• The company recently authorized a $100 million stock buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CCOI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup downgraded Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,210,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,554. Cogent Communications has a one year low of $29.61 and a one year high of $86.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $44.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of -8.26 and a beta of 0.68.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.28). Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The business had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $247.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.68) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $1.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.8%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is presently -89.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $235,396.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 98,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,707,920. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $22,519,997.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 697,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,171,432.50. This trade represents a 54.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,060,878 shares of company stock valued at $101,696,333. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the second quarter valued at about $1,201,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 8.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 144,696 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,976,000 after purchasing an additional 10,783 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the second quarter valued at about $566,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the second quarter valued at about $98,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 4,191.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,810 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 7,628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.