Analysts Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) PT at $33.95

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.95.

WMG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 target price (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, May 9th.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,679,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,544. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 64.64% and a net margin of 7.14%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 82.76%.

Insider Activity

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 87,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 127.0% in the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company's stock worth $419,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,839 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% in the 4th quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company's stock worth $186,000,000 after buying an additional 5,917,879 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 worth $479,552,000 after buying an additional 4,097,688 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the period. Finally, Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,000 shares in 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.