Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target to $22.00

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

CCOI opened at $18.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $903.58 million, a PE ratio of -4.74 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.85. Cogent Communications has a 52-week low of $15.96 and a 52-week high of $69.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.45. The business had revenue of $240.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.82 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 18.67%.The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.91) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 10,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,199. The trade was a 24.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total value of $50,804.18. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,940.47. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467 over the last quarter. 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $176,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,222 shares during the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $30,380,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 551.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,146,417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,965,000 after buying an additional 970,367 shares in the last quarter. MIG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth $12,272,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 86.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,177,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,385,000 after buying an additional 547,188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

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.