StockNews.com Lowers Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut Comcast from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a buy rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Comcast Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $39.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.72. The stock has a market cap of $153.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bollard Group LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 36,996 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 5,801 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,754 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.9% during the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 5,663 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company increased its holdings in Comcast by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 7,996 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation operates as a media and technology company worldwide. It operates through Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Business Services Connectivity, Media, Studios, and Theme Parks segments. The Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment provides residential broadband and wireless connectivity services, residential and business video services, sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising.