Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $44.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Macquarie cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $31.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.78 and a 200-day moving average of $30.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,113,588. The trade was a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 in the last 90 days. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,207,000 after buying an additional 7,923,926 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $160,156,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after buying an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group Corp. operates as a music entertainment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. The Recorded Music segment is involved in the discovery and development of recording artists, as well as related marketing, promotion, distribution, sale, and licensing of music created by such recording artists; markets its music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as previously unreleased materials; and conducts its operation primarily through a collection of record labels, such as Warner Records and Atlantic Records, as well as Asylum, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin’ Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville.