Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.43.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $28.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.05. The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.30. Warner Music Group has a 12 month low of $23.34 and a 12 month high of $35.42.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 62.01% and a net margin of 6.34%.The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 774.6% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 355.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 740.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Music Group

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.