Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Earns “Neutral” Rating from UBS Group

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at UBS Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $27.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $50.00. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.22% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CCOI. Citigroup cut Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.40.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

CCOI opened at $24.95 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $24.25 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.28. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.The business had revenue of $241.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.33) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $72,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,117.95. This represents a 16.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,038. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Herald Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Cogent Communications by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 242,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,304,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 28.1% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 185,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,110,000 after purchasing an additional 40,706 shares during the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 2.6% in the third quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 106,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,078,000 after buying an additional 2,675 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 4.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 137,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,264,000 after buying an additional 6,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 194,425 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,456,000 after buying an additional 6,506 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.