Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $42.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $34.00. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.70% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.81.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of WMG stock opened at $36.30 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.93. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The company has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.