Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Moffett Nathanson

Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock.

WMG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.06.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.3%

WMG stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.17. 225,386 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,697,706. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.20. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 47.78% and a net margin of 5.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 108.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 120.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted 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 worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. 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.