Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $34.94 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.9412.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 57.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 85.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the third 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 period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 480.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.90 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $15.62 billion, a PE ratio of 42.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.19.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 47.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.