Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Strong-Buy Rating

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

LYV has been the topic of several other research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Live Nation Entertainment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.95.

Live Nation Entertainment Trading Down 1.8%

LYV opened at $155.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -646.54, a P/E/G ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.22 and its 200-day moving average is $150.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. Live Nation Entertainment has a 52-week low of $112.88 and a 52-week high of $175.25.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.00) by ($0.06). Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 48.11%. The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Live Nation Entertainment’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Live Nation Entertainment will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LYV. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,725,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,589,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763,511 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment during the third quarter valued at $1,606,000. Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 51.1% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,191,000. Finally, WT Wealth Management bought a new stake in Live Nation Entertainment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,753,000. 74.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment is a global live entertainment company that promotes, operates and sells tickets for live events. The company’s core activities include concert promotion and production, venue operations and management, ticketing services through its Ticketmaster platform, artist management and development, and sponsorship and advertising services tied to live events. These integrated businesses are designed to connect artists, fans and commercial partners across the live event ecosystem.

The company in its current form was created following the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, combining a promoter and venue operator with one of the industry’s largest ticketing platforms.