Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.02 (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.02 per share by the technology company on Monday, December 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st.

Cogent Communications has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Cogent Communications has a dividend payout ratio of -175.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Cogent Communications to earn ($2.63) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $4.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -154.4%.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ CCOI traded down $13.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.95. 5,598,275 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,931. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 0.77. Cogent Communications has a fifty-two week low of $24.25 and a fifty-two week high of $86.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.71.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CCOI shares. Citigroup downgraded Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cogent Communications from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.60.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

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.