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

Key Points

• Analysts have given Warner Music Group Corp. an average rating of "Moderate Buy", with ten rated as hold, eight as buy, and one as strong buy.
• The company's stock has a recent price target averaging $34.35, reflecting a positive sentiment driven by an increasing number of institutional investors acquiring shares.
• Warner Music Group recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.19 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%, despite a higher payout ratio of 133.33%.

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.3529.

WMG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America raised Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,348,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,639 shares of the company's stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $596,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $33.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.37, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.11. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.64.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

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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