Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's What Happened

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 1,476,515 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session's volume of 1,466,743 shares.The stock last traded at $29.73 and had previously closed at $31.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial dropped their target price 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.40.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.75%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

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 shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 242,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 73.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after buying an additional 2,370,973 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 424,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,274,000 after buying an additional 81,799 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 239.3% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 45,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 32,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company's stock worth $82,284,000 after acquiring an additional 49,166 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.