Guggenheim Cuts Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target to $40.00

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price target decreased by Guggenheim from $44.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WMG. Barclays reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $29.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.77. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.