190,000 Shares in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI Bought by BlackBarn Capital Partners LP

Key Points

• BlackBarn Capital Partners LP acquired 190,000 shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. for approximately $11.65 million, making it the fund's 11th largest position, representing around 0.7% of its total holdings.
• Cogent Communications recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $1.01 to $1.015 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 10.6%.
• Despite a negative earnings report, where EPS fell short of estimates, analysts maintain a Moderate Buy rating for Cogent, with an average price target of $57.50.

BlackBarn Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 190,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $11,649,000. Cogent Communications accounts for approximately 0.7% of BlackBarn Capital Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP owned 0.38% of Cogent Communications as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CCOI. DigitalBridge Group Inc. grew its position in Cogent Communications by 246.0% during the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 907,916 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,973,000 after buying an additional 645,521 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,897,090 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $146,209,000 after purchasing an additional 368,129 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 752,158 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,961,000 after purchasing an additional 235,842 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,859,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,649,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup cut shares of Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Cogent Communications stock traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $37.89. 384,283 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,342. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $44.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of -8.35 and a beta of 0.68. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $29.61 and a one year high of $86.76. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.79 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The business's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.68) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $1.015 per share. This represents a $4.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently -89.43%.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in 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 often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $364,117.95. The trade was a 16.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $235,396.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 98,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,707,920. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,060,878 shares of company stock worth $101,696,333. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cogent Communications Company 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.