Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.14 and last traded at $11.2050, with a volume of 178981 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CCOI. UBS Group dropped their price target on Cogent Communications from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cogent Communications from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Cogent Communications from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.90.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.63. The stock has a market cap of $558.89 million, a P/E ratio of -3.17 and a beta of 0.80.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $239.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.31 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 17.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.09) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.79, for a total transaction of $81,431.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 197,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,322,741. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.01, for a total transaction of $40,824.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 38,600 shares in the company, valued at $656,586. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,603,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,561,000 after buying an additional 1,811,222 shares during the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $30,380,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 551.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,146,417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,965,000 after acquiring an additional 970,367 shares in the last quarter. MIG Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,272,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 86.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,177,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,385,000 after acquiring an additional 547,188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.