Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.88.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,664,000. Hahn Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,863,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1,711.7% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 903,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,362,000 after acquiring an additional 853,384 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 31.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,178,000 after acquiring an additional 193,221 shares during the period. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 46.3% in the third quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 479,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,068,000 after acquiring an additional 151,778 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $32.40 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.03. The stock has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.70. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $23.62 and a one year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.13). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 128.86% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 77.27%.

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.