Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Now Covered by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a research report released on Monday morning, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Redburn Atlantic raised Warner Music Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $17.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $37.18.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $35.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.28, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.43. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $23.62 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.08.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 128.86% and a net margin of 7.42%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 854,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,833,000 after acquiring an additional 8,291 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,193,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,862,000 after purchasing an additional 36,322 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 119,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,740,000 after purchasing an additional 18,600 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 170,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,345,000 after purchasing an additional 39,027 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during 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.