Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Stock Price

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Citigroup from $41.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 33.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.88.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.98. 583,273 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,111. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.19. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 47.78% and a net margin of 5.44%.The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 10.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 948,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,743,000 after acquiring an additional 50,035 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the second quarter worth about $932,000. 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.