Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

WMG has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.43.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $28.33 on Friday. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $23.34 and a 12 month high of $35.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 355.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 740.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.