Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Moffett Nathanson

Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WMG. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on Warner Music Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.35.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.67, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.18.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 762.5% in the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 74,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after buying an additional 65,714 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 18.1% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,025,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 310,698 shares during the last quarter. Covalis Capital LLP increased its position in Warner Music Group by 203.1% during the 2nd quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 566,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,435,000 after purchasing an additional 379,661 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,226,000 after purchasing an additional 6,989 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.