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

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.92.

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial dropped their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $31.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the first quarter worth about $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. 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.