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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CMCSA. Macquarie reiterated a neutral rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded Comcast from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $45.58.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $41.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $160.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.64 and a 200-day moving average of $39.62. Comcast has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,015,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,929,963 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Comcast by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,500,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,626 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Comcast by 41.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Comcast by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 18,873,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $827,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,304,304 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $495,694,000 after buying an additional 368,685 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.