Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.72.

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.4%

Warner Music Group stock opened at $31.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.08. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 20.0% during the second quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 12,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,097 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 2,512 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $932,000. Revisor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,673,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.

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