Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Live Nation, with 20 buy, three hold, and one sell rating among 24 firms. The average 12-month price target is $197.19, above the stock’s reported $168.60 price.
• Several analysts raised their price targets, including UBS to $208, Deutsche Bank to $205, Bernstein to $215, and Morgan Stanley to $200; Weiss Ratings instead downgraded the stock to “sell.”
• Live Nation exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.05 EPS versus $0.66 expected and $7.67 billion in revenue, up 9.4% year over year. The stock is down 1.5% and trades below its 50-day moving average.

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $197.1905.

LYV has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $181.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Live Nation Entertainment in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Live Nation Entertainment from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Live Nation Entertainment from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Nation Entertainment

In related news, CAO Brian Capo sold 2,900 shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $533,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,592,520. The trade was a 25.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.89% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Nation Entertainment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYV. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan grew its holdings in Live Nation Entertainment by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 21,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,858,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the company's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Live Nation Entertainment by 1.6% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.52% of the company's stock.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Down 1.5%

LYV opened at $168.60 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $179.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.49. Live Nation Entertainment has a 1-year low of $125.34 and a 1-year high of $189.24. The stock has a market cap of $39.73 billion, a PE ratio of -149.20 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.39. Live Nation Entertainment had a return on equity of 54.61% and a net margin of 0.34%.The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Live Nation Entertainment will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc is a global live entertainment company that produces, promotes and operates concerts, music festivals and other live events. Through its concert promotion business, the company works with artists and venues to organize events across a broad range of music genres.

The company also operates Ticketmaster, a ticketing platform that provides ticket sales, distribution and related technology for concerts, sports and other events. In addition, Live Nation manages and operates entertainment venues and provides sponsorship and advertising services that connect brands with live audiences.

Live Nation was formed in 2005 through the combination of Clear Channel Entertainment's live entertainment business and Live Nation.

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