Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $50.17 and last traded at $50.45, with a volume of 800486 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $53.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.95 and a beta of 0.69.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The company had revenue of $252.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.49 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.005 dividend. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.94%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is -93.49%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total transaction of $174,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,975,370. This represents a 5.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total transaction of $66,308.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,702.72. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,750,810 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,921,000 after purchasing an additional 22,738 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,014,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the third quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 350,304 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,595,000 after acquiring an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $284,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.