Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.31.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 1.3 %

WMG opened at $31.80 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.76. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The stock has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. Warner Music Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,779,000 after buying an additional 2,514,715 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth $15,766,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,198.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 507,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,886,000 after acquiring an additional 485,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group Corp. operates as a music entertainment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. The Recorded Music segment is involved in the discovery and development of recording artists, as well as related marketing, promotion, distribution, sale, and licensing of music created by such recording artists; markets its music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as previously unreleased materials; and conducts its operation primarily through a collection of record labels, such as Warner Records and Atlantic Records, as well as Asylum, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin’ Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville.