Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $34.06 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.95.

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMG. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Warner Music Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 72.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.81. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.76%.

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.