Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Now Covered by FBN Securities

FBN Securities assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a sector perform rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WMG. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.76.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $31.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.04 and a 200-day moving average of $31.99. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.