Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.17.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Tigress Financial decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $32.23. 725,383 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,848,444. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.81. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is presently 69.23%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $1,809,327.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,191,171.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at about $239,000. Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 22,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 11,843 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1,041.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 363,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,373,000 after purchasing an additional 331,511 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.