UBS Group Lowers Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target to $75.00

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $102.00 to $75.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.75.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $48.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.10 and its 200-day moving average is $71.41. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $45.00 and a 12-month high of $86.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.73 and a beta of 0.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $247.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.81 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.38) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $1.01 dividend. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -100.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $103,968.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares in the company, valued at $740,325.12. The trade was a 12.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total transaction of $66,308.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,652 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,702.72. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in Cogent Communications by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Cogent Communications by 35.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.