Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.88.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,664,000. Hahn Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth $4,863,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 1,711.7% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 903,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,362,000 after purchasing an additional 853,384 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 31.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,178,000 after purchasing an additional 193,221 shares during the period. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 46.3% in the third quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 479,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,068,000 after purchasing an additional 151,778 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG opened at $32.40 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50. The company has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.46. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $23.62 and a 12-month high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 128.86% and a net margin of 7.42%. Research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.27%.

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.