Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Upgraded by Bank of America to "Neutral" Rating

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $33.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $28.00. Bank of America's target price suggests a potential upside of 10.04% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WMG. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price target (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wolfe Research raised Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.95.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.50 on Wednesday, reaching $29.99. 2,419,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,782,904. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.40 and a 200 day moving average of $30.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 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 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The company's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position 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 valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its position 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 valued at $3,630,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. 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.