Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.6875.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, December 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,511,000 after buying an additional 2,200,362 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139,067 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $108,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,425 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 12.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,596 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $28.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.86. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $34.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.