American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. significantly increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 223.7% in the first quarter, now owning approximately $725,000 worth of their shares.
• Cogent Communications' quarterly earnings revealed a loss of ($1.21) EPS, missing estimates, while their quarterly revenue declined by 5.4% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a $100 million stock buyback program, which typically indicates that the board considers the stock to be undervalued.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 223.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,823 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,171 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 35.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 56.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 43,175.0% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,731 shares of the technology company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 9.7% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the technology company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TradeLink Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 14.4% in the first quarter. TradeLink Capital LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the technology company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 1.5%

Cogent Communications stock opened at $36.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of -8.07 and a beta of 0.81. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.61 and a 12 month high of $86.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

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

Cogent Communications announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.1%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -89.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,117.95. The trade was a 16.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 697,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,171,432.50. The trade was a 54.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,901,478 shares of company stock worth $94,081,853. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.60.

Cogent Communications Profile

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.

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