Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) - What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst opinion is mixed: Among 27 brokerages, Comcast has an average “Hold” rating—10 Buys, 11 Holds, and 6 Sells—with an average one-year price target of $28.77.
• Comcast beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $1.07 and revenue of $29.30 billion, though revenue fell 6.1% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, equivalent to $1.32 annually and a 5.3% yield at the article’s cited share price.

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.77.

Several research firms have commented on CMCSA. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $37.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Comcast from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $23.00 price target on Comcast and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Comcast from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $24.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.95. Comcast has a 52-week low of $20.48 and a 52-week high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The cable giant reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.22 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 6th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 6th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Comcast by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,864,921 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,173,232,000 after buying an additional 3,783,234 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,461,308 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $845,919,000 after acquiring an additional 507,097 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,592,149 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $390,231,000 after acquiring an additional 630,902 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 824.4% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,616,490 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $333,509,000 after acquiring an additional 10,359,800 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.7% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 10,666,200 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $306,227,000 after purchasing an additional 574,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation is a media and telecommunications company whose businesses include broadband, cable television, wireless and voice services, as well as entertainment, news and theme parks. Its Xfinity brand offers residential and business connectivity and entertainment services in the United States. Through NBCUniversal, Comcast operates the NBC broadcast network, cable channels, the Peacock streaming service, Universal Pictures and Universal theme parks. The company also owns Sky, which provides television, broadband and related services in the United Kingdom and other European markets.

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