Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have given a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.7885.

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Comcast Stock Down 0.2%

Comcast stock opened at $25.15 on Wednesday. Comcast has a twelve month low of $24.53 and a twelve month high of $36.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.71.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comcast will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. United Financial Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 932 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.