Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.34) by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.13) EPS.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.75. The stock had a trading volume of 473,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,070. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.38 and a 200-day moving average of $67.63. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.37 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Cogent Communications has a fifty-two week low of $50.80 and a fifty-two week high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.995 dividend. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 510.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares in the company, valued at $318,444,627.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,444,627.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 71,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,130,138.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,870 shares of company stock valued at $4,716,057. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. 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 research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.14.

About Cogent Communications

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.