Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $18.50, but opened at $18.96. Cogent Communications shares last traded at $19.7050, with a volume of 269,153 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $37.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Cogent Communications from $65.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.71.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $832.11 million, a PE ratio of -3.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.36.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.28. The company had revenue of $241.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.13 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.Cogent Communications’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.33) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.96%.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total value of $88,776.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 36,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,339,038. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total transaction of $51,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,012 shares in the company, valued at $213,656.08. This represents a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,362,821 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $205,664,000 after buying an additional 270,975 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 64.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,811,222 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,279,440 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $109,892,000 after acquiring an additional 267,143 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Cogent Communications by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,788,235 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,211,000 after purchasing an additional 13,510 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,402,612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,790,000 after purchasing an additional 399,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

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.