Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook: Warner Music Group has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with 13 buys and 4 holds among 17 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $38.77, above the reported share price of $27.93.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Warner Music reported adjusted earnings of $0.51 per share versus the $0.34 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.4% year over year to $1.86 billion.
• Dividend increased: The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.19 to $0.20 per share, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $0.80 and a 2.9% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 96.88% of the outstanding stock.

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.7692.

WMG has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered Warner Music Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 10.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company's stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 7,119 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,496 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 948,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,743,000 after acquiring an additional 50,035 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 193,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,269,000 after acquiring an additional 36,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 293.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,287,000 after acquiring an additional 475,929 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ WMG opened at $27.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.30. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $23.34 and a 12 month high of $35.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.29 and a 200-day moving average of $28.40.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.17. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 85.50%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company's publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG's activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source