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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.3750.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMG. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price target on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,362 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings 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. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 112.8% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,226,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,823,000 after buying an additional 1,180,256 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,449,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth approximately $36,821,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $28.44 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.14. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $23.34 and a 12 month high of $35.42.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.41%.

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.