Warner Music Group's (WMG) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Macquarie

Macquarie reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $30.00 price target on the stock.

WMG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.3 %

WMG stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.90. 964,229 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,902,839. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The company has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 72.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 67,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 246,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,633,000 after acquiring an additional 6,023 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 77,058 shares of the company's stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $463,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group Corp. operates as a music entertainment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. The Recorded Music segment is involved in the discovery and development of recording artists, as well as related marketing, promotion, distribution, sale, and licensing of music created by such recording artists; markets its music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as previously unreleased materials; and conducts its operation primarily through a collection of record labels, such as Warner Records and Atlantic Records, as well as Asylum, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin' Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville.