Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.95.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Warner Music Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WMG opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.81. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 82.76%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.