Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Up 7.4% – Should You Buy?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s stock price shot up 7.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.20 and last traded at $21.0710. 493,274 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 1,013,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CCOI. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, November 7th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.71.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.84 and a beta of 0.83.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $241.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.13 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 19.72% and a negative return on equity of 208.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.33) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently -1.96%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $81,360.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,267 shares in the company, valued at $391,890.78. This trade represents a 17.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total value of $51,216.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,656.08. The trade was a 19.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth about $4,162,000. DigitalBridge Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 850,073 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,600,000 after buying an additional 267,099 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 277.8% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,161 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 22,912 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 14.5% in the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 55,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 7,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 64.9% during the third quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,603,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,222 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.