Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America cut shares of Cogent Communications from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TheStreet raised shares of Cogent Communications from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $77.57.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $65.79 on Thursday. Cogent Communications has a 1-year low of $57.35 and a 1-year high of $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.49.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.79. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 135.34% and a negative return on equity of 23.66%. The firm had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.82 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -3.35 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.965 per share. This represents a $3.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.87%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is 14.43%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total transaction of $147,110.40. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 54,822 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,461.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total transaction of $176,328.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,270. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total transaction of $147,110.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 54,822 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,461.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,320 shares of company stock worth $4,669,997 over the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CCOI. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 93.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 9,330 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $374,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.7% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 969,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,990,000 after purchasing an additional 6,550 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 26.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 589,196 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,471,000 after purchasing an additional 124,348 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides high-speed Internet access, private network, and data center colocation space services in North America, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. The company offers on-net Internet access and private network services to law firms, financial services firms, and advertising and marketing firms, as well as heath care providers, educational institutions and other professional services businesses, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, media service providers, mobile phone operators, content delivery network companies, and commercial content and application service providers.