Guggenheim Has Lowered Expectations for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim’s target price indicates a potential upside of 36.52% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WMG. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.33.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $38.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.93 and a 200 day moving average of $30.78. The firm has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.