Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.64.

A number of brokerages have commented on CMCSA. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $37.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.89 and a 200 day moving average of $39.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Comcast Company Profile

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.