Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading Down 8.3% – What’s Next?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) shares were down 8.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $19.67 and last traded at $19.5690. Approximately 559,451 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 1,169,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cogent Communications from $37.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $40.00 price objective on Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.78.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 8.0%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $982.43 million, a PE ratio of -5.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.45. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 18.67%.The company had revenue of $240.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.91) EPS. Cogent Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -2.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the 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 $232,199. This represents a 24.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total transaction of $56,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 41,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,350. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock valued at $292,467. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,580,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $120,311,000 after buying an additional 217,450 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 64.9% during the third quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,603,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,222 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 13.3% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,279,440 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $109,892,000 after acquiring an additional 267,143 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,070,132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,632,000 after acquiring an additional 132,454 shares during the period. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $30,380,000. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

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.