Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $23.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Cogent Communications traded as low as $20.49 and last traded at $20.62, with a volume of 2464468 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.12.

CCOI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Cogent Communications from $65.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $25.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,038. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total transaction of $51,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,656.08. The trade was a 19.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,800 shares of company stock worth $212,692. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 9.7% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 5,702 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $1,288,000. Finally, Tabor Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter worth $1,792,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.46. The stock has a market cap of $819.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.67 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.28. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.The company had revenue of $241.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.13 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.33) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently -1.96%.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.