Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $23.39 and last traded at $23.48, with a volume of 642964 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.64 and its 200-day moving average is $30.22.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,801 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 worth $510,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,362 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,914,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,637,000 after purchasing an additional 363,092 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its position in Warner Music Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,880,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,363,000 after purchasing an additional 47,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Music Group

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.