Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $35.69 Average PT from Analysts

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.6875.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMG. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $27.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $34.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 131.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,511,000 after buying an additional 2,200,362 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139,067 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 178.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,425 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,801 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,596 shares during 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 is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.