Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.6875.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WMG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 21st.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $27.05 on Thursday. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $34.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.42 and a 200-day moving average of $30.68.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 120.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

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.