Cogent Communications’ (CCOI) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their neutral rating on shares of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $22.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

CCOI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.90.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 10.4%

Shares of CCOI opened at $17.76 on Friday. Cogent Communications has a twelve month low of $14.82 and a twelve month high of $54.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $889.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $239.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.31 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 17.53% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.09) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total transaction of $50,804.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,940.47. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total transaction of $109,755.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,588,232.50. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467 in the last 90 days. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 5.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,362,821 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $205,664,000 after buying an additional 270,975 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 30.1% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 177,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,792,000 after purchasing an additional 40,970 shares during the period. Arvin Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,301,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 46.9% in the third quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 935,287 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,868,000 after purchasing an additional 298,392 shares during the period. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 123.4% in the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 312,626 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,989,000 after purchasing an additional 172,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

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.