Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Cogent Communications has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 11 covering firms, with an average 1-year price target of $24.90. Recent analyst moves were mixed, but several firms lowered targets or maintained neutral/equal-weight views.
• The stock was trading around $12.52, well below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, and near its 52-week low of $11.43. The company also has a market cap of about $627 million and a negative earnings profile.
• In its latest quarterly results, Cogent beat EPS expectations with a loss of ($0.83) versus the expected ($1.03), but revenue of $239.19 million slightly missed estimates and fell 3.2% year over year. The company also paid a small quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, yielding about 0.6%.

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.90.

CCOI has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Cogent Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Cogent Communications from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Cogent Communications from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 2.2%

CCOI stock opened at $12.52 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.71. The stock has a market cap of $627.00 million, a PE ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 0.80. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $11.43 and a 1 year high of $54.37.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $239.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.31 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 17.53%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.09) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is presently -2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.01, for a total value of $40,824.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 38,600 shares in the company, valued at $656,586. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.79, for a total transaction of $81,431.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 197,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,322,741. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP bought a new position in Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 208.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 313.9% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,486 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications NASDAQ: CCOI is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent's core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.

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