Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Upgraded to Neutral at Bank of America

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $33.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $28.00. Bank of America's target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.85% from the stock's previous close.

WMG has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.35.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of WMG traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,222,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,768,074. The company's 50-day moving average is $27.38 and its 200 day moving average is $30.10. Warner Music Group has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-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. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. Warner Music Group's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock worth $3,630,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 77,901 shares of the company's stock worth $2,442,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

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.