Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.25.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Cogent Communications stock opened at $61.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.60. Cogent Communications has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.49 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.005 per share. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -93.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,975,370. The trade was a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $353,094.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,422,180. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 11,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Ulysses Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 372,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after acquiring an additional 32,596 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,649,000. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 420,825 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,433,000 after purchasing an additional 70,521 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.