Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading Up 7.3% – Still a Buy?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) was up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.90 and last traded at $17.6870. Approximately 141,446 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,198,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Cogent Communications from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cogent Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.90.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $885.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.98 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.91.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $239.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.31 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 17.53%.The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.09) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total transaction of $50,804.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,940.47. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total value of $109,755.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares in the company, valued at $4,588,232.50. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,756 shares of company stock valued at $292,467. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 7.7% during the first quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,348,897 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,933,000 after purchasing an additional 312,050 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 108,875 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after buying an additional 47,668 shares during the period. FourWorld Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $5,002,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter worth $319,000. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 317,447 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,981,000 after buying an additional 100,422 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently 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.