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 note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WMG. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.38.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $28.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.59 and a 200 day moving average of $29.18. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $23.34 and a twelve month high of $35.42.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 774.6% during the third 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. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 480.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 355.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 740.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently 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.