Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.69.

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMG shares. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $29.34 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $14,129,000. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $2,317,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,272.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 242,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,420,000 after purchasing an additional 231,892 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $901,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 11,035 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.