Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $36.15 and last traded at $36.28, with a volume of 13199495 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.33.

Comcast Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $138.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.25.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 220.3% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 54.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.