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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

CCOI has been the subject of a number of other reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $77.57.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $64.93 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.39. Cogent Communications has a twelve month low of $57.35 and a twelve month high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released 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. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 135.34% and a negative return on equity of 23.66%. The firm had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.82 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.965 per share. This represents a $3.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently 14.43%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total transaction of $147,110.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 54,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,461.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total transaction of $147,110.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 54,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,461.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total transaction of $176,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,270. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,320 shares of company stock worth $4,669,997. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCOI. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 9,330 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $374,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 969,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,990,000 after buying an additional 6,550 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $275,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 589,196 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,471,000 after buying an additional 124,348 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.