Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Hits New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Comcast's shares reached a new 52-week low of $31.35, prompting analysts to reevaluate their ratings and price targets, with updates ranging from cuts to upgrades from various financial institutions.
• The company recently revealed a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, which will yield 4.2%, reflecting a payout ratio of 21.82%.
• Despite the stock's performance challenges, Comcast reported a $1.25 earnings per share for its last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 2.1% revenue increase year-over-year.

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $31.35 and last traded at $31.40, with a volume of 4559993 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bernstein Bank cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.73.

Comcast Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $115.97 billion, a PE ratio of 5.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.55 and a 200-day moving average of $34.93.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. Comcast had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The firm had revenue of $30.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Comcast's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 1st quarter valued at about $940,015,000. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 19.1% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 94,217,741 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,476,635,000 after purchasing an additional 15,115,074 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast by 1,959.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,228,732 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $488,140,000 after buying an additional 12,586,329 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Comcast by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Comcast by 724.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,160,649 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $374,927,000 after buying an additional 8,928,641 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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