• New York Post, Thursday, March 26, 2009 9:30 AM

The penny-pinching ways of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts -- long a sore spot for investors -- have made Comcast likely to be one of America's few corporations to get a debt-rating upgrade by Moody's Investors Service.

While most media companies are drowning in debt, Comcast has a debt ratio of 2.5 times net assets, as well as nearly $4 billion in annual free cash flow. The company recently said it would raise its dividend by 8%, or a total of $60 million, and yet it still remains in line for a debt upgrade.

While insiders don't think Comcast is currently casting around for major acquisitions, they note that there are a lot of cheap targets available, particularly in digital media. "Cash is king, not content, not distribution," says Soleil Securities analyst Laura Martin. "Being underleveraged lets Comcast be opportunistic when its overleveraged competitors can't be."

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