Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Warner Bros. Discovery, with 13 holds, six buys, two strong buys and two sells among 23 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $27.69.
• WBD reported quarterly EPS of $0.06, beating estimates for a $0.14 loss, but revenue fell 11.2% year over year to $8.72 billion, below expectations. Analysts project a full-year loss of $1.11 per share.
• Insiders sold 1.75 million shares worth $48.3 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own approximately 59.95% of the company.

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.6912.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WBD. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Huber Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WBD opened at $28.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Warner Bros. Discovery has a 12 month low of $11.44 and a 12 month high of $30.00. The company has a market cap of $71.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.35 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.25.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.20. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 8.91% and a negative net margin of 8.77%.The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Warner Bros. Discovery's revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kenneth W. Lowe sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.97, for a total value of $3,236,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 990,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,703,212.76. This represents a 10.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 71,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.75, for a total value of $1,985,207.25. Following the sale, the director owned 33,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $917,609.25. The trade was a 68.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,750,749 shares of company stock valued at $48,329,633 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 304.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 68,950 shares of the company's stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 51,920 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 50.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 91.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 116,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 55,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 111,450 shares of the company's stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company's stock.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery NASDAQ: WBD is a global media and entertainment company formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc combined their businesses in 2022. Headquartered in New York City, the company assembles a broad portfolio of film and television production, linear and cable networks, streaming services and consumer distribution operations. Its assets span well-known studio brands, premium scripted and unscripted programming, news and factual entertainment, and licensed franchise properties.

The company's core activities include film and television production and distribution through units such as Warner Bros.

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