Comcast Co. (CMCSA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.31 on January 29th

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the cable giant on Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th.

Comcast has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Comcast has a dividend payout ratio of 25.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Comcast to earn $4.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.9%.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $37.67 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.25 and a 200 day moving average of $40.30. Comcast has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.39.

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.