Cogent Communications (CCOI) Competitors

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) and Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, community ranking, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Which has more risk and volatility, CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications has higher revenue and earnings than Iridium Communications. Iridium Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cogent Communications, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cogent Communications	$1.06B	3.59	$1.27B	$0.78	99.15
Iridium Communications	$812.43M	4.09	$15.41M	$0.94	31.07

Is CCOI or IRDM a better dividend stock?

Cogent Communications pays an annual dividend of $3.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Iridium Communications pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Cogent Communications pays out 510.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Iridium Communications pays out 59.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cogent Communications has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Cogent Communications is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in CCOI or IRDM?

92.4% of Cogent Communications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 11.4% of Cogent Communications shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Iridium Communications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor CCOI or IRDM?

In the previous week, Iridium Communications had 1 more articles in the media than Cogent Communications. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Iridium Communications and 4 mentions for Cogent Communications. Iridium Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Cogent Communications' score of 0.74 indicating that Iridium Communications is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cogent Communications	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Iridium Communications	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications received 16 more outperform votes than Iridium Communications when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.50% of users gave Cogent Communications an outperform vote while only 58.67% of users gave Iridium Communications an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cogent Communications	Outperform Votes 500 61.50%	Underperform Votes 313 38.50%
Iridium Communications	Outperform Votes 484 58.67%	Underperform Votes 341 41.33%

Is CCOI or IRDM more profitable?

Iridium Communications has a net margin of 14.09% compared to Cogent Communications' net margin of 3.73%. Iridium Communications' return on equity of 14.34% beat Cogent Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cogent Communications	3.73%	-36.31%	-5.20%
Iridium Communications	14.09%	14.34%	4.21%

Do analysts recommend CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications presently has a consensus target price of $80.25, suggesting a potential upside of 3.76%. Iridium Communications has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 40.36%. Given Iridium Communications' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Iridium Communications is more favorable than Cogent Communications.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cogent Communications	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Iridium Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Summary

Iridium Communications beats Cogent Communications on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.