Bank of America Raises Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target to $36.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on WMG. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. UBS Group set a $45.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.82.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $33.85 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.39, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 127.0% during the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,839 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,552,000 after buying an additional 4,097,688 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,803,000 after buying an additional 1,316,979 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth approximately $31,485,000. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,920,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. 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.