BNP Paribas Exane Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Exane cut Comcast’s price target from $25 to $22 and kept an underperform rating, implying about 6.64% downside from the current share price.
• Comcast shares traded lower to $23.57, near the stock’s 52-week low of $22.13, while the company’s average analyst rating remains Hold with a consensus target of $33.77.
• Despite the bearish call, Comcast recently beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarter, posting $0.79 EPS versus $0.73 expected and $31.46 billion in revenue versus $30.42 billion expected.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underperform" rating on the cable giant's stock. BNP Paribas Exane's price target points to a potential downside of 6.64% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on CMCSA. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $35.50 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Comcast from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Comcast from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Comcast from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Comcast in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.77.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.57. 9,670,145 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,409,160. Comcast has a 1-year low of $22.13 and a 1-year high of $36.01. The firm has a market cap of $84.18 billion, a PE ratio of 4.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.67. The company's fifty day moving average price is $24.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.42 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $6,240,000 after acquiring an additional 99,986 shares in the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 83,883 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $2,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 42,216 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 119.4% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,974 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 9,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 66.8% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,607 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 15,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

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.

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