Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.81.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced 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. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 127.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 194,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 109,180 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $247,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth $1,133,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 50,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,584,000 after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 657.9% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 8,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WMG stock opened at $32.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.92.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

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.