Analysts Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Target Price at $36.27

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.27.

Separately, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Ossiam grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 31.1% during the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at about $75,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded down $1.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.35. 2,838,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,431,482. The company has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.75 and a 200 day moving average of $33.80. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $23.62 and a 52-week high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 128.86% and a net margin of 7.42%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.27%.

About Warner Music Group

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.