Brokerages Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) PT at $34.94

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.9412.

WMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of WMG opened at $30.59 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The stock has a market cap of $15.98 billion, a PE ratio of 43.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 47.78% and a net margin of 5.44%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 108.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,025,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 310,698 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 203.1% in the 2nd quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 566,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,435,000 after purchasing an additional 379,661 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 762.5% in the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 74,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 65,714 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth $1,673,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5.3% during the second quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 660,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,993,000 after purchasing an additional 33,422 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.