Bank of America Cuts Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target to $33.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target reduced by Bank of America from $36.00 to $33.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

WMG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.88.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 3.4%

WMG opened at $30.69 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.19 and a 200-day moving average of $30.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $25.56 and a 1-year high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.14). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 774.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently 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.