Warner Music Group (WMG) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) is expected to be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, February 6th. Analysts expect Warner Music Group to post earnings of $0.34 per share and revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter. Individual that are interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. On average, analysts expect Warner Music Group to post $1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WMG opened at $31.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.75. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.31.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.