Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $37.18 Average PT from Analysts

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.18.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, May 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th.

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 business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $435,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,198,892 shares of the company's stock worth $186,068,000 after buying an additional 2,397,232 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 87.1% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,713,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,690 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,628,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 306.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,375,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036,663 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 730,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,574,297. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.07 and a 200 day moving average of $34.12. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $23.62 and a 12-month high of $38.05. The stock has a market cap of $15.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.43.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 120.42% and a net margin of 8.28%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.00%.

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.