Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target Cut to $33.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WMG. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group set a $33.00 price objective on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research cut Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.88.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,602,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,897,486. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a PE ratio of 53.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 39.95%. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 108.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,427,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483,839 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,097,688 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after buying an additional 2,139,067 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 178.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,435,000 after buying an additional 2,040,425 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 12.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.