Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target for Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00, reflecting a potential upside of 7.35% from its current price and maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock.
• The stock has seen various ratings changes in recent months, with nine analysts issuing a buy rating and one giving it a strong buy, leading to an average target price of $33.72.
• Warner Music Group's latest earnings report showed a revenue of $1.69 billion, surpassing expectations, although it missed EPS estimates, indicating mixed financial performance.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential upside of 7.35% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised shares of Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price target (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.72.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.67. The stock had a trading volume of 942,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,885,089. The stock has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company's 50 day moving average price is $28.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.12. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $25.56 and a 1-year high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Financial Services lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 9,619 shares of the company's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company's stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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