Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,882,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,647,215. Comcast has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The firm has a market cap of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is 32.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.44.

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.