Head-To-Head Contrast: Cogent Communications (CCOI) & The Competition

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is one of 203 public companies in the “Diversified Telecommunication Services” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Cogent Communications to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Cogent Communications pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Cogent Communications pays out -11.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Diversified Telecommunication Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 13.8% and pay out 33.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Cogent Communications has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

Cogent Communications has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cogent Communications’ rivals have a beta of -4.89, indicating that their average stock price is 589% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cogent Communications and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cogent Communications	$975.77 million	-$182.17 million	-5.65
Cogent Communications Competitors	$12.35 billion	$893.66 million	-168.87

Cogent Communications’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Cogent Communications. Cogent Communications is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.4% of Cogent Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.8% of shares of all “Diversified Telecommunication Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of Cogent Communications shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of shares of all “Diversified Telecommunication Services” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cogent Communications and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cogent Communications	-3.53%	N/A	-4.58%
Cogent Communications Competitors	-10.40%	-215.25%	-3.43%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Cogent Communications and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cogent Communications	2	5	2	0	2.00
Cogent Communications Competitors	1762	5372	7773	385	2.44

Cogent Communications presently has a consensus price target of $18.24, indicating a potential upside of 354.97%. As a group, “Diversified Telecommunication Services” companies have a potential upside of 20.49%. Given Cogent Communications’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Cogent Communications is more favorable than its rivals.

Summary

Cogent Communications rivals beat Cogent Communications on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications is a facilities-based provider of internet and data-transport services. Its offerings include dedicated internet access, IP transit, Ethernet and wavelength services, and colocation, serving businesses, communications carriers, government agencies, and other organizations. The company operates a high-capacity network across North America and Europe. It connects customer locations to the internet and provides network capacity for organizations that need to move data between sites or across networks.