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

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.7333.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Scotiabank raised Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $23.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $23.34 and a 52-week high of $34.63.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. Warner Music Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.