Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target to $18.00

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its price target cut by Royal Bank Of Canada from $22.00 to $18.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CCOI. Weiss Ratings lowered Cogent Communications from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $23.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.40.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI opened at $16.65 on Wednesday. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $14.82 and a 12 month high of $54.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $833.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.69 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.67 and a 200-day moving average of $23.43.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by $0.20. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 17.53%.The company had revenue of $239.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.09) earnings per share. Cogent Communications’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total value of $56,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 41,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,350. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total value of $109,755.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,588,232.50. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 44.1% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 32,289 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 208.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,162 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 2,162.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,109 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 10,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in Cogent Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $341,000. 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.