Comcast (CMCSA) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is scheduled to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Comcast to post earnings of $0.99 per share for the quarter. Investors that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. On average, analysts expect Comcast to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Comcast Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $38.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $154.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast has a 12-month low of $36.38 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.76.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Redburn Atlantic cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. O Dell Group LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Cowa LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Comcast during the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.