EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. Raises Stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 30.4% during the first quarter, holding a total of 2,012,297 shares valued at approximately $123.4 million.
• Cogent reported a quarterly EPS of ($1.21), missing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $246.25 million, down 5.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.015 per share, marking an annualized yield of 11.2% and reflecting a slight increase from the previous dividend of $1.01.

EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 30.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,012,297 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 469,028 shares during the quarter. Cogent Communications comprises about 1.0% of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. owned approximately 4.08% of Cogent Communications worth $123,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CCOI. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 0.6% during the first quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 42,739 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,620,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 35.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 9.7% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the technology company's stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 56.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairieview Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.7% in the first quarter. Prairieview Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,142 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CCOI traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.88. 2,153,968 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,877,775. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.61 and a twelve month high of $86.76. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of -8.12 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06.

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

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st were issued a $1.015 dividend. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -89.43%.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $235,396.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 98,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,707,920. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 16.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,903,878 shares of company stock worth $94,170,629. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.