Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group started coverage on shares of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $102.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CCOI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Cogent Communications stock traded up $1.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $79.52. 297,490 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,224. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.76 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.08 and a 200 day moving average of $68.02. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $50.80 and a 12 month high of $86.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.34) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. Cogent Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.13) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.995 per share. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.01%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 505.13%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 71,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,130,138.60. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $108,783.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,318 shares in the company, valued at $831,424.44. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,008,175 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 25.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,021 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Cogent Communications by 265.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 5,672 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 92,427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 55.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 23,015 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 8,223 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,942,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cogent Communications

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.