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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.81.

A number of research firms have commented on WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective 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.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WMG opened at $35.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.18. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,333 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,602. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,504,000 after purchasing an additional 82,149 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,207,000 after acquiring an additional 7,923,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.