Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Climb 6.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) shot up 6.4% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $9.88 and last traded at $9.9050. Approximately 411,632 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,432,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $9.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Cogent Communications from $25.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group set a $9.00 price objective on Cogent Communications in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cogent Communications from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.55.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.40. The company has a market cap of $489.66 million, a P/E ratio of -9.96 and a beta of 0.81.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.00) by $2.38. The firm had revenue of $235.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.55 million. Cogent Communications’s revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -3.13 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -8.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thaddeus Weed sold 4,850 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.37, for a total value of $45,444.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 193,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,808,878.50. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FourWorld Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,002,000. Granahan Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 46.3% during the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 317,447 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,981,000 after purchasing an additional 100,422 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 341.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 226,035 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,137,000 after purchasing an additional 174,787 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 145.4% in the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 239,557 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,513,000 after purchasing an additional 141,949 shares during the period. Finally, Harspring Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Harspring Capital Management LLC now owns 1,402,500 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,238,000 after purchasing an additional 527,500 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc provides high-speed Internet connectivity and data communications services to businesses, carriers, Internet service providers and other organizations. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Cogent Communications, the company operates an Internet Protocol (IP) network designed to support the transmission of data across metropolitan, national and international routes.

The company’s service offerings include dedicated Internet access, IP transit, Ethernet transport, virtual private network services and colocation.