Intech Investment Management LLC Has $2.99 Million Stock Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 20.5%, acquiring 8,306 additional shares and now holds 48,748 shares valued at approximately $2.99 million.
• Cogent Communications reported a disappointing earnings report, with an EPS of ($1.21), missing estimates, and a year-over-year revenue decrease of 5.4% to $246.25 million.
• The company announced a $100 million share repurchase plan and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.015 per share, indicating a commitment to shareholder returns despite recent financial challenges.

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,748 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,306 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned 0.10% of Cogent Communications worth $2,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 57,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,449,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,111 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,528 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 111,844 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 7,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 420,825 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,433,000 after buying an additional 70,521 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Cogent Communications stock traded down $1.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,175,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The business's fifty day moving average price is $40.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.07 and a beta of 0.81. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $29.61 and a one year high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.The firm had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.79 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.68) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a dividend of $1.015 per share. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.1%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -89.43%.

Cogent Communications announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CCOI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lowered Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $22,519,997.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 697,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,171,432.50. This trade represents a 54.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total value of $88,776.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,339,038. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,663,978 shares of company stock valued at $82,687,283 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Cogent Communications

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.