Brokerages Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target at $35.73

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.5333.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMG shares. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 120.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 948,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,743,000 after buying an additional 50,035 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Warner Music Group by 1.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 298,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,126,000 after buying an additional 3,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 257,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,017,000 after buying an additional 4,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG stock opened at $26.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.67. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $23.34 and a fifty-two week high of $34.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

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.