Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG) – What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.27.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Stonex Financia upgraded shares of Warner Music Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $31.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $23.34 and a 1 year high of $35.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.03 and a 200 day moving average of $28.72.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.17. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 85.50% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 11,943,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,302,000 after acquiring an additional 93,199 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 88.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,521,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,867,000 after acquiring an additional 713,578 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,275,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,580,000 after acquiring an additional 16,295 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 207.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 952,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,323,000 after purchasing an additional 642,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ardmore Road Asset Management LP grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 61.9% in the first quarter. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP now owns 843,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,552,000 after purchasing an additional 322,640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group Corp. is a global music entertainment company that develops, records, distributes and promotes music. Its recorded-music operations work with artists across a range of genres and release music through labels including Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Music Group and Parlophone. The company distributes music through streaming platforms, digital services, physical formats and other channels.

Warner Music Group also operates Warner Chappell Music, one of the world’s major music publishing companies.