Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

CMCSA has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $35.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.47.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.