Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $34.96 and last traded at $34.22, with a volume of 83868 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMG. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.38.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.09 and its 200 day moving average is $29.02. The company has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.25.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 89.41%.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 23.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.1% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 3,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.