Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) had its target price cut by Evercore ISI from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, October 4th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.33.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.30 on Thursday. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.93 and a 200 day moving average of $30.78. The stock has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued 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). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 69.29% and a net margin of 6.77%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 10,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.2% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 9.1% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.