Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price Down 5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) shares traded down 5% during trading on Monday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $33.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Warner Music Group traded as low as $29.08 and last traded at $29.1440. 1,257,092 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 1,893,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.69.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on Warner Music Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 120.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 774.6% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 50.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.46.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 39.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.57%.

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.