Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.67.

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMG. Barclays reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $32.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. Analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.75%.

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.