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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.2353.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $45.00 price target on Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Redburn Atlantic raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $32.08 on Monday. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.11. The company has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.32.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keystone Financial Services increased its position in Warner Music Group by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Warner Music Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Warner Music Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Warner Music Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.