StockNews.com Lowers Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CCOI. Bank of America cut shares of Cogent Communications from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TheStreet raised shares of Cogent Communications from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $77.57.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CCOI stock opened at $65.79 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $57.35 and a 12-month high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.82 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 135.34% and a negative return on equity of 23.66%. As a group, analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.965 dividend. This represents a $3.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.43%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total value of $640,326.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,815,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,383,678.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total value of $176,328.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,270. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total transaction of $640,326.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,815,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,383,678.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,320 shares of company stock valued at $4,669,997 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 895.0% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 313.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 505 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 109.9% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 20.0% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,800 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth $142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

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.