Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on WMG. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.33.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $26.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.40. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $23.34 and a 1 year high of $35.42.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 85.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at about $73,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 284.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 3,436 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group Corp. is a global music entertainment company that operates through two primary businesses: recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music operations discover, develop, market and distribute music from artists and songwriters through labels including Warner Records, Atlantic Records and Parlophone, as well as a range of regional and specialty labels.

The company’s music publishing division, Warner Chappell Music, manages copyrights and licenses compositions for use in recordings, films, television, advertising, video games and other media.