Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives “Underperform” Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their underperform rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has a $30.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $33.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WMG. Tigress Financial dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Macquarie reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a sell rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an outperform rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $36.33.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 2.3 %

WMG traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,763,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,891,861. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average is $30.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Insider Activity at Warner Music Group

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $12,007,352.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at $64,113,588. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $414,000. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter worth $214,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 35,439.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 50,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 50,679 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at $599,000. Finally, Linonia Partnership LP purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at $21,132,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.