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

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $33.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $28.00. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.66% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.95.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.3%

WMG stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.37. The stock had a trading volume of 368,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,806. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43. The company's 50 day moving average is $27.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.13. The company has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 101.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.