Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.19 Per Share

Key Points

• Warner Music Group Corp. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, reflecting a 5.6% increase from the previous dividend of $0.18.
• The company reported a net margin of 7.14% and revenue of $1.69 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations, although it missed earnings estimates for the last quarter.
• Equities analysts project Warner Music Group to earn $1.51 per share next year, suggesting a stable dividend payout ratio of 47.7%.

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of 0.19 per share on Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This is a 5.6% increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18.

Warner Music Group has a dividend payout ratio of 52.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Warner Music Group to earn $1.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.7%.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.16. 258,398 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,893,204. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.15. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.31, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 39.95%. The company's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $34.00 price objective on Warner Music Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.