Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Trading Down 5% After Analyst Downgrade

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) shares were down 5% during trading on Monday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $33.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Warner Music Group traded as low as $29.08 and last traded at $29.1440. Approximately 1,257,092 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 1,893,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.69.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 23.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 3.7% in the second quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.02, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.14). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 39.95%. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

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.