Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.17.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Tigress Financial cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total value of $3,812,077.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 41.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881,684 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,679,000 after buying an additional 192,215 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after buying an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $160,156,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of WMG opened at $32.41 on Monday. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.23%.

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.