Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading Up 4.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) rose 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.03 and last traded at $20.1070. Approximately 315,069 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,153,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Three investment 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.67.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 3.7%

The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.36 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.15.

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

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued 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 was Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -2.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total value of $56,040.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,350. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of the 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 owned 20,449 shares in the company, valued at $470,940.47. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock valued at $292,467 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,580,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $120,311,000 after acquiring an additional 217,450 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $176,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,222 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 267,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,070,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,632,000 after purchasing an additional 132,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,380,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.