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

Key Points

• Warner Music Group Corp. has an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy", with ten analysts recommending a hold, eight a buy, and one a strong buy, along with a twelve-month price target averaging $33.88.
• Recent institutional investor activity includes Itau Unibanco growing its stake by 122.6%, and 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Warner Music recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.19, yielding approximately 2.3%, while announcing a $1.69 billion revenue for the last quarter, exceeding estimates.

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.8824.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMG. Guggenheim dropped their price target 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.55. 2,600,378 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,436,858. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $29.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.19. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $25.56 and a 1-year high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keystone Financial Services raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.7% during the second quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 9,619 shares of the company's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $956,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,630,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.