Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Price Up 7.3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Cogent Communications shares jumped 7.3% to about $9.84, but remain well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $12.49 and $17.56, respectively.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold”, with a $19.55 price target, while several firms recently cut targets and JPMorgan maintained an “underweight” rating with a $9 target.
• The company exceeded quarterly EPS expectations but reported a 4.4% year-over-year revenue decline, negative net margin, and an expected full-year loss; it also declared a modest $0.02 quarterly dividend yielding about 0.8%.

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 7.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.67 and last traded at $9.8360. 691,315 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 1,295,714 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CCOI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $18.00 to $12.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $20.00 to $11.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Cogent Communications from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cogent Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.55.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 6.1%

The company's fifty day moving average is $12.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $498.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.12 and a beta of 0.80.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.00) by $2.38. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The firm had revenue of $235.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.21) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -2.7 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently -8.33%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.01, for a total transaction of $40,824.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 38,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $656,586. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 197,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,322,741. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCOI. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,603,933 shares of the technology company's stock worth $176,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,222 shares during the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,380,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 551.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,146,417 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,965,000 after purchasing an additional 970,367 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 1,545.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 752,005 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,438,000 after purchasing an additional 706,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIG Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth $12,272,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cogent Communications

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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