In the eyes of Wall Street, Comcast Corp is no longer a growth stock and needs to start to focus more on returning value to shareholders, so says a Goldman Sachs report today.

The note from Goldman analyst Ingrid Chung comes two weeks after we reported that investors are beginning to re-think the Comcast ‘value stock’ story and are now calling for the reinstatement of a dividend. The last time the U.S. cable company paid a dividend was nine years ago.

Chung also says investors will be looking for a confident 2008 outlook from Comcast on Valentine’s Day, when it is scheduled to report quarterly earnings:

While competition and the economic slowdown continue to chip away at Comcast’s business, we would become more constructive on the stock if the company were to post strong 2008 free cash flow guidance and show a renewed commitment to shareholder friendly initiatives (such as a dividend) when it reports 4Q2007 results on 2/14.

Goldman Sachs downgraded Comcast shares to a “Neutral” rating on Dec. 4 after the cable company lowered its full-year revenue growth forecast.

The stock fell around 40 percent in the last year as investors believe the company is struggling with pressures from the U.S. economic slowdown and increased competition for customers from satellite TV operators and new advanced video services from phone companies.

One investor is publicly calling for the head of Chief Executive Brian Roberts. Chieftain Capital, which owns around 2 percent of Comcast’s outstanding shares, also thinks a dividend would be a good idea. Chung said Comcast can help its own cause by making itself more appealing to value investors:

We believe Comcast can no longer view itself as a growth company and in order to attract the incremental investor, Comcast needs to show investors that lowered expectations are now achievable and to demonstrate an increased commitment to returning cash to shareholders.

(Photo: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts/Reuters)