Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.31

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th.

Comcast has increased its dividend by an average of 8.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Comcast has a dividend payout ratio of 28.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Comcast to earn $4.47 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 27.7%.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.24. 3,810,391 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,580,838. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.55.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.80.

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.