Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 200.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 63,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $3,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 30.4% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,012,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,374,000 after purchasing an additional 469,028 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC purchased a new position in Cogent Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,704,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 808,061 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,542,000 after buying an additional 109,543 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 673,921 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,318,000 after buying an additional 89,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 586,474 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,957,000 after buying an additional 2,834 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total value of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 36,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,339,038. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction of $72,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,117.95. This represents a 16.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,663,978 shares of company stock worth $82,687,283 in the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ CCOI opened at $40.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.98 and a beta of 0.77. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.61 and a fifty-two week high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $247.79 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.68) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $1.015 per share. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -89.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCOI. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Zacks Research lowered Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.60.

Cogent Communications 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.