Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.33

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.33 per share by the cable giant on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31.

Comcast has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Comcast has a dividend payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Comcast to earn $4.41 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 28.1%.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.66. The stock had a trading volume of 39,117,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,017,746. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. On average, analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMCSA. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the 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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.