Cogent Communications (CCOI) Competitors

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

Is IRDM or CCOI more profitable?

Cogent Communications has a net margin of 114.09% compared to Cogent Communications' net margin of 3.20%. Cogent Communications' return on equity of 2.76% beat Iridium Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iridium Communications	3.20%	2.76%	0.93%
Cogent Communications	114.09%	-24.63%	-4.13%

Do analysts rate IRDM or CCOI?

Iridium Communications presently has a consensus target price of $44.75, suggesting a potential upside of 48.62%. Cogent Communications has a consensus target price of $75.14, suggesting a potential upside of 26.89%. Given Cogent Communications' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Iridium Communications is more favorable than Cogent Communications.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iridium Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Cogent Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

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

84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of Cogent Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Iridium Communications shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.4% of Cogent Communications shares are held by company 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, IRDM or CCOI?

Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cogent Communications has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor IRDM or CCOI?

In the previous week, Iridium Communications had 1 more articles in the media than Cogent Communications. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Iridium Communications and 5 mentions for Cogent Communications. Cogent Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Iridium Communications' score of 1.22 indicating that Iridium Communications is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Iridium Communications	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cogent Communications	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer IRDM or CCOI?

Cogent Communications received 10 more outperform votes than Iridium Communications when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.63% of users gave Cogent Communications an outperform vote while only 58.76% of users gave Iridium Communications an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Iridium Communications	Outperform Votes 483 58.76%	Underperform Votes 339 41.24%
Cogent Communications	Outperform Votes 493 61.63%	Underperform Votes 307 38.38%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, IRDM or CCOI?

Cogent Communications has higher revenue and earnings than Iridium 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
Iridium Communications	$790.72M	4.62	$15.41M	$0.21	143.38
Cogent Communications	$940.92M	3.09	$1.27B	$25.24	2.35

Is IRDM or CCOI a better dividend stock?

Iridium Communications pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Cogent Communications pays an annual dividend of $3.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Iridium Communications pays out 247.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cogent Communications pays out 15.5% 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.

Summary

Cogent Communications beats Iridium Communications on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.