Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Now Covered by Analysts at FBN Securities

FBN Securities started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a sector perform rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.76.

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Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WMG traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.38. The company had a trading volume of 273,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,960,171. The stock has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.07. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,336 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,630,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.