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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.31.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $31.58 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.75.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Warner Music Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, 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 owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This represents 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 accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.