Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Down 6.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) traded down 6.2% on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $25.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Cogent Communications traded as low as $22.08 and last traded at $22.0250. 1,717,618 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 85% from the average session volume of 925,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.49.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, August 8th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Cogent Communications from $65.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $88,776.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 36,200 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,038. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,117.95. This trade represents a 16.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCOI. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 297.8% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the second quarter worth $40,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 6.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.85 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.28. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The firm had revenue of $241.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.33) earnings per share. Cogent Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -99.51%.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.