Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.20 EPS

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The technology company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by $0.20, Briefing.com reports. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 18.67% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The business had revenue of $239.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 27.3%

NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $16.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $842.64 million, a PE ratio of -4.42 and a beta of 0.85. Cogent Communications has a 52-week low of $15.96 and a 52-week high of $56.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.01.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Cogent Communications from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Williams Trading set a $40.00 target price on Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total value of $50,804.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,940.47. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $75,867.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,199. This trade represents a 24.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock valued at $292,467. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $176,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,222 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,070,132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,632,000 after purchasing an additional 132,454 shares during the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,380,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 39.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,402,612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,790,000 after purchasing an additional 399,339 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,179,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,429,000 after buying an additional 31,724 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cogent Communications

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.