Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WMG. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.43.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $28.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.07. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $23.34 and a fifty-two week high of $35.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. Analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 480.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 355.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 23.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.