Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at Loop Capital

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price objective lowered by Loop Capital from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WMG. Barclays reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.79.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.9 %

WMG opened at $32.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at $64,113,588. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after acquiring an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $160,156,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,418,000 after buying an additional 2,594,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.