Warner Music Group’s (WMG) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $44.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on WMG. Barclays decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Macquarie cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG stock opened at $31.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $1,809,327.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,909,422 shares in the company, valued at $82,191,171.50. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,679,000 after purchasing an additional 192,215 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,715 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $160,156,000. Institutional investors 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.