Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (CCOI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.96 on December 8th

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 1st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a dividend of 0.955 per share by the technology company on Friday, December 8th. This represents a $3.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95.

Cogent Communications has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Cogent Communications has a dividend payout ratio of -135.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Cogent Communications to earn ($2.42) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $3.82 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -157.9%.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Cogent Communications stock traded up $0.31 on Monday, reaching $65.91. 43,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 328,841. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.75 and a 200 day moving average of $64.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Cogent Communications has a 52 week low of $54.57 and a 52 week high of $75.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 41,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.72, for a total transaction of $2,823,314.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,907,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $332,308,134.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Marc Montagner sold 10,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.83, for a total transaction of $694,506.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,390,531.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 41,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.72, for a total transaction of $2,823,314.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,907,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $332,308,134.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,243 shares of company stock valued at $6,802,299 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,172,729 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,811,000 after buying an additional 90,137 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,772,398 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $119,265,000 after purchasing an additional 10,259 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,990,000 after purchasing an additional 16,205 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 4.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 849,596 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,136,000 after purchasing an additional 34,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth $39,772,000. 85.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CCOI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, August 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.38.

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, Asia, South America, Australia, 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.