Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.45% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.33.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG traded down $1.73 on Thursday, hitting $29.30. The company had a trading volume of 4,401,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,631. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.79.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.