Brokerages Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) PT at $35.67

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.67.

A number of research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target 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.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $31.02 on Friday. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.06 and its 200 day moving average is $30.79. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insider Transactions 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 on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,016,000 after buying an additional 2,370,973 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 91.5% in the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $160,156,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.