Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $33.37. 1,977,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,994,961. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.77. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $27.06 and a 12-month high of $36.81.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.