Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Hits New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $25.87 and last traded at $25.97, with a volume of 835633 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.95.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.96.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 acquiring an additional 4,097,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,803,000 after buying an additional 1,316,979 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 127.0% during the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company's stock worth $419,427,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,839 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after acquiring an additional 82,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its stake in 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 hedge funds and other 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.