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 investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk and media sentiment.

Is CCOI or IRDM more profitable?

Iridium Communications has a net margin of 14.68% compared to Cogent Communications' net margin of -18.76%. Iridium Communications' return on equity of 19.41% beat Cogent Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cogent Communications	-18.76%	-70.29%	-6.05%
Iridium Communications	14.68%	19.41%	4.60%

Do analysts recommend CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications presently has a consensus target price of $75.75, suggesting a potential upside of 43.17%. Iridium Communications has a consensus target price of $34.25, suggesting a potential upside of 6.66%. Given Cogent Communications' higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cogent Communications is more favorable than Iridium Communications.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cogent Communications	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Iridium Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

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

92.5% of Cogent Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.4% of Cogent Communications shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Iridium Communications shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, CCOI or IRDM?

Cogent Communications has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, CCOI or IRDM?

Iridium Communications has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cogent Communications. Cogent Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Iridium 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	$1.04B	2.52	-$204.07M	-$4.01	-13.19
Iridium Communications	$830.68M	4.18	$112.78M	$1.06	30.29

Does the media prefer CCOI or IRDM?

In the previous week, Iridium Communications had 1 more articles in the media than Cogent Communications. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Iridium Communications and 6 mentions for Cogent Communications. Iridium Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Cogent Communications' score of 1.13 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)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Iridium Communications	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CCOI or IRDM a better dividend stock?

Cogent Communications pays an annual dividend of $4.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. Iridium Communications pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Cogent Communications pays out -100.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Iridium Communications pays out 52.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cogent Communications has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Iridium Communications has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Cogent Communications is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Iridium Communications beats Cogent Communications on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.