Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $34.35 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.6471.

WMG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,348,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $596,000. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ WMG opened at $33.52 on Thursday. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.03. The firm has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 58.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.30). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

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.