Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.6912.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Huber Research raised shares of Warner Bros. Discovery from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Freedom Capital raised Warner Bros. Discovery from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lowered Warner Bros. Discovery from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Warner Bros. Discovery Price Performance

Shares of WBD stock opened at $27.91 on Thursday. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $12.00 and a fifty-two week high of $30.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.98 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.24.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.25 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 8.91%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Warner Bros. Discovery

Here are the key news stories impacting Warner Bros. Discovery this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount Skydance says the merger is ready to close and continues seeking protection against costs associated with legal delays. If the transaction proceeds, investors could benefit from expected scale and cost synergies in the combined media company. Paramount Skydance Moves to Protect Against Costs of Delay as WBD Merger Is Ready to Close
• Neutral Sentiment: The merger is entering a more detailed court-deliberation phase. That could clarify the timeline, but the articles do not indicate whether the court will approve or block the transaction, leaving the stock highly sensitive to future legal developments. Now comes the record: The Paramount-WBD deal finally gets the deliberation it’s owed
• Negative Sentiment: Paramount repeated its demand that the states and Writers Guild of America post a $1.88 billion bond if their lawsuit delays the merger. Paramount also accused California Attorney General Rob Bonta of making statements that weaken his bond-related arguments. The dispute highlights continued regulatory and litigation risk that could postpone or jeopardize closing. Paramount says California AG contradicted bond arguments in TV interviews
• Negative Sentiment: WBD Director Anton Levy sold 340,000 shares for approximately $9.65 million, reducing his ownership by 35.49%. Although insider sales can be planned for personal or diversification reasons, the size of the transaction may weigh on sentiment. Warner Bros. Discovery director insider sale filing

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Fazal F. Merchant sold 71,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.75, for a total value of $1,985,207.25. Following the sale, the director owned 33,067 shares in the company, valued at $917,609.25. This represents a 68.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth W. Lowe sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.35, for a total transaction of $5,670,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 790,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,399,561.80. This trade represents a 20.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,290,749 shares of company stock valued at $63,652,233. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Bros. Discovery

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBD. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 11.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 149,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,977,000 after acquiring an additional 15,374 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery by 35.3% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.5% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 6,792,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,076,000 after purchasing an additional 229,635 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.7% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 35,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305 shares during the period. Finally, Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 9.9% in the second quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. 59.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc is a global media and entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes television, film and digital content. Its portfolio includes Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO, CNN, Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network, TNT Sports and other well-known brands.

The company operates streaming services including Max, which features HBO programming, Warner Bros. films, original series and other entertainment content, and discovery+, which focuses on lifestyle, documentary and nonfiction programming.