Zacks Research Equities Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Cogent Communications in a research note issued on Monday, September 9th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the technology company will post earnings of ($1.45) per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of ($1.46). The consensus estimate for Cogent Communications’ current full-year earnings is ($4.46) per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cogent Communications’ FY2024 earnings at ($4.69) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($1.16) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($1.10) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.88) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.82) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($3.96) EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.53) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.47) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($1.54) EPS.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CCOI. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cogent Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $71.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.40. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $68.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by $0.59. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The business had revenue of $260.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.13) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.985 per share. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 15.61%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $3,106,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,433,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $229,542,707.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $3,106,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,433,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $229,542,707.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.77, for a total transaction of $133,958.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 50,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,014.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,470 shares of company stock valued at $7,722,519 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 218,174 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,594,000 after purchasing an additional 24,185 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 175.1% in the fourth quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 37,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after buying an additional 23,934 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at $27,942,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 327.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,129,000 after acquiring an additional 752,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 289.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,020 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 7,448 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.