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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus: Of 11 covering firms, six rate Cogent Communications a hold, three rate it a buy and two recommend selling. The average 12-month price target is $19.55, though several firms recently cut their targets.
• The stock has suffered a sharp decline: Shares opened at $7.43, near the 52-week low of $7.28, compared with a 52-week high of $45.69. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $380.6 million.
• Quarterly results were mixed: Cogent reported adjusted EPS of $1.38, well above the consensus estimate of a $1.00 loss, but revenue fell 4.4% year over year to $235.6 million, below expectations. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the stock, while the CFO recently sold 4,850 shares.

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.55.

Several research firms recently issued reports on CCOI. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $20.00 to $11.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $18.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Cogent Communications from $25.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Weed sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.37, for a total transaction of $45,444.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 193,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,808,878.50. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,348,897 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $81,933,000 after buying an additional 312,050 shares during the last quarter. Harspring Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 60.3% in the 4th quarter. Harspring Capital Management LLC now owns 1,402,500 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,238,000 after buying an additional 527,500 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.5% in the first quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 1,290,204 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $24,307,000 after acquiring an additional 43,867 shares in the last quarter. Newtyn Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.5% during the second quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 1,655,895 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $22,984,000 after acquiring an additional 55,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 601,735 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,973,000 after acquiring an additional 431,974 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of Cogent Communications stock opened at $7.43 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.01. Cogent Communications has a one year low of $7.28 and a one year high of $45.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $380.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.74 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.00) by $2.38. The business had revenue of $235.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.55 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 4.73%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.21) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cogent Communications will post -3.01 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.33%.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc is a telecommunications company that provides high-speed Internet connectivity and other communications services to businesses, service providers and other organizations. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Cogent Communications, the company operates a global, facilities-based network designed to deliver reliable data transport and Internet access.

Cogent's primary services include dedicated Internet access, IP transit, Ethernet transport and colocation.

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