Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) Receives Average “Buy” Brokerage Rating

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) have earned a consensus “Buy” recommendation from the seven rating companies that currently cover the company, reports MarketBeat. One analyst rated the stock with a keep recommendation and four gave the company a buy recommendation. The 12-month average price target among brokerage firms that updated their equity coverage in the past year is $ 84.50.

Several equity research analysts recently published reports on the stock. TheStreet downgraded Cogent Communications shares from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 11. Zacks investment research reduce Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “keep” rating and set a price target of $ 81.00 for the company. in a report on Tuesday August 3.

NASDAQ: CCOI opened at $ 73.94 on Friday. Cogent Communications has a twelve month minimum of $ 53.20 and a twelve month maximum of $ 80.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $ 72.92 and a 200-day moving average of $ 74.05. The company has a market cap of $ 3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 672.24 and a beta of 0.09.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ: CCOI) last released its quarterly results on Thursday, August 5. The tech company reported ($ 0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analyst consensus estimates of $ 0.21 per ($ 0.26). The company posted revenue of $ 147.90 million in the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $ 146.78 million. Cogent Communications recorded a negative return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 0.82%. Cogent Communications revenues for the quarter increased 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company made a profit of $ 0.19 per share. As a group, stock analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post earnings per share of 0.86 for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 3. Shareholders of record on Friday August 20 received a dividend of $ 0.805. The ex-dividend date was Thursday August 19. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’ previous quarterly dividend of $ 0.78. This represents an annualized dividend of $ 3.22 and a yield of 4.35%. Cogent Communications’ dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 423.68%.

In related news, the director Sheryl lynn kennedy sold 1,750 shares of the company in a trade on Tuesday, August 24. The stock was sold for an average price of $ 71.99, for a total trade of $ 125,982.50. As a result of the sale, the Director now directly owns 4,750 shares of the company, valued at approximately $ 341,952.50. The transaction was disclosed in a file with the SEC, which can be accessed via the SEC website. Also, CRO James bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 1. The stock was sold for an average price of $ 73.64, for a total value of $ 141,388.80. As a result of the transaction, the executive now owns 33,782 shares of the company, valued at $ 2,487,706.48. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,720 shares of the company valued at $ 1,336,377 in the past 90 days. 11.10% of the shares are held by insiders of the company.

A number of hedge funds have recently changed their holdings to CCOI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,774,196 shares of the tech company valued at $ 367,088,000 after purchasing an additional 27,422 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management LP increased its position in Cogent Communications shares by 10.7% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management LP now owns 1,714,799 shares of the technology company valued at $ 131,851,000 after acquiring an additional 165,992 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications shares by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,480,478 shares of the technology company valued at $ 101,797,000 after purchasing an additional 189,967 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cogent Communications shares by 2.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,399,424 shares of the tech company worth $ 107,602,000 after purchasing an additional 29,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in the shares of Cogent Communications by 5.7% in the second quarter. abrdn plc now owns 825,977 shares of the technology company valued at $ 63,546,000 after purchasing an additional 44,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors hold 83.79% of the shares of the company.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc is committed to providing Internet access and Internet Protocol communications solutions. It provides Internet access and data transport through its fiber optic, IP-only data, Ethernet transport, and colocation services. The company was founded by David Schaeffer in August 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, DC.

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