Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 27.3%, owning approximately $8.21 million worth of shares after acquiring an additional 28,709 shares.
• Cogent Communications recently announced a $100 million stock buyback program, aiming to repurchase up to 4.6% of its outstanding shares, which may indicate management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• In its latest earnings report, Cogent Communications posted (-$1.21) earnings per share, missing estimates, and reported a 5.4% decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,913 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,709 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.27% of Cogent Communications worth $8,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CCOI. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 618 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 56.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,035 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 9.7% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ CCOI traded up $0.2030 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.1030. 553,559 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 732,357. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.08 and a beta of 0.68. 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 50 day moving average is $46.16 and its 200-day moving average is $56.06. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.61 and a 1 year high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $247.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.68) earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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 10.9%. 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 -88.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 1,840,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.60, for a total value of $60,005,809.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,516,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,423,295.20. The trade was a 54.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,105,078 shares of company stock worth $103,810,876. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.57.

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.