Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Guggenheim

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target cut by Guggenheim from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.53.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of WMG opened at $25.54 on Tuesday. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $23.34 and a 52-week high of $34.63. The company has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a PE ratio of 44.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.03%.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 57.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 3,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 16,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

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.