Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Price Up 6.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) rose 6.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.32 and last traded at $20.6320. Approximately 226,461 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,151,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CCOI. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Williams Trading set a $40.00 target price on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, February 23rd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.78.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 7.8%

The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.24.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.45. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 18.67% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The business had revenue of $240.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.91) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is -2.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total value of $50,804.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,940.47. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total value of $75,867.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,100 shares in the company, valued at $232,199. The trade was a 24.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,811,222 shares in the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $30,380,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 551.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,146,417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,965,000 after acquiring an additional 970,367 shares during the last quarter. MIG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth $12,272,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 86.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,177,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,385,000 after acquiring an additional 547,188 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent’s core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.