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

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.9444.

WMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.59. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 47.78%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,839 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,067 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Warner Music Group by 178.5% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,435,000 after buying an additional 2,040,425 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,110,000 after buying an additional 1,837,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,375,000 after buying an additional 1,824,596 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.