Analysts Set Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Target Price at $38.77

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.7692.

Several research analysts have commented on WMG shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 355.7% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $28.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.73. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $23.34 and a fifty-two week high of $35.42. The stock has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.28 and a 200-day moving average of $28.40.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.17. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 85.50% and a net margin of 9.20%.The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.