Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $34.06 Average Price Target from Analysts

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.95.

WMG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.6%

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,319,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,908,009. The firm's 50 day moving average is $28.35 and its 200 day moving average is $30.91. The company has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. Warner Music Group's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,097,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,979 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $419,427,000 after buying an additional 7,483,839 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after buying an additional 82,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.