Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Analysts at Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a research note issued on Monday, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 23.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WMG. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.18.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $34.69 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.57 and its 200-day moving average is $34.06. The company has a market capitalization of $17.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.43. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $23.62 and a 12 month high of $38.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 128.86%. Equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 627.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.