Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading Down 8.3% – Here’s What Happened

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s share price dropped 8.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $19.67 and last traded at $19.5690. Approximately 559,451 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 1,169,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CCOI shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $37.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. KeyCorp reduced 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 report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.78.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $982.43 million, a P/E ratio of -5.15 and a beta of 0.84. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $23.06 and its 200 day moving average is $28.69.

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

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total transaction of $109,755.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,588,232.50. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $75,867.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,100 shares in the company, valued at $232,199. This trade represents a 24.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467 over the last quarter. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cogent Communications by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,580,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $120,311,000 after buying an additional 217,450 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 64.9% during the 3rd 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. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,279,440 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $109,892,000 after acquiring an additional 267,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,070,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,632,000 after acquiring an additional 132,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $30,380,000. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

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.