Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Cut to Strong Sell at Arete Research

Arete Research cut shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on CMCSA. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Comcast from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.50 to $41.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.24.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $28.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.11. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $38.40. The firm has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.81.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 13th. The cable giant reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $30.34 billion for the quarter. Comcast had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 18.33%. Sell-side analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 173.7% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 86.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 906.8% during the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 745 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co increased its stake in Comcast by 433.3% during the 2nd quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 768 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Comcast News

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Forbes lays out a buy-side case for Comcast, pointing to its attractive valuation and durable cash flows as reasons long-term investors should consider CMCSA. Why You Should Consider Comcast Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha highlights Comcast’s 4%+ dividend yield and frames the shares as an income play, a narrative that can attract yield-focused investors and provide downside support. Comcast’s 4%+ Dividend Yield: How It Became An Income Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Yahoo Finance runs a valuation check after recent share weakness, suggesting CMCSA looks cheaper on several metrics — useful context for value investors but not an immediate catalyst. Comcast (CMCSA) Valuation Check After Recent Share Price Weakness
• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc downgraded Comcast to a Sell, a direct hit to investor sentiment that can increase selling pressure from funds tracking analyst sentiment. KeyBanc downgrades Comcast (CMCSA) to a Sell
• Negative Sentiment: Benchmark lowered its price target for Comcast to $44 from $46, trimming upside expectations and signaling more conservative near-term forecasts. Benchmark Cuts Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $44.00
• Negative Sentiment: Another report reiterates Benchmark’s cut to $44 (same analyst action noted by The Globe and Mail), reinforcing downward revisions as a headwind. Comcast price target lowered to 44 from 46 at Benchmark
• Negative Sentiment: Arete Research downgraded Comcast from Hold to Strong Sell, adding to the cluster of negative analyst ratings and pressuring sentiment. Arete Downgrades Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to Sell
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks also flagged the Arete downgrade in its coverage, amplifying the downgrade news across investor channels. Zacks coverage of downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reports the market reaction to Comcast’s TV spin has given Paramount more ammunition against Comcast in the Warner Bros. campaign — a strategic/competitive development that could complicate Comcast’s M&A posture and investor confidence. Comcast’s TV spin hands Paramount more ammunition in its Warner Bros campaign

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.