Bank of America Reaffirms "Underperform" Rating for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG)

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Bank of America in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $30.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $33.00. Bank of America's price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.66% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.14. 3,763,295 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,891,861. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $29.28 and its 200 day moving average is $30.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $1,809,327.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,191,171.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the company's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 154,747 shares of the company's stock worth $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 2.2% in the second quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 17,548 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

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.