Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 1,476,515 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session’s volume of 1,466,743 shares.The stock last traded at $29.73 and had previously closed at $31.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital dropped their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 73.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth about $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.