Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives $37.88 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.88.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMG shares. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, May 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 40.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 68,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 19,832 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at $537,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 175,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,802,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at $759,000. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the first quarter valued at $229,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $30.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81. Warner Music Group has a 52-week low of $25.28 and a 52-week high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 120.42% and a net margin of 8.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.00%.

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.