Warner Music Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WMG)

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 10,032 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 2,758% compared to the average daily volume of 351 put options.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $35.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.43. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $23.62 and a one year high of $38.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 128.86% and a net margin of 7.42%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.27%.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 627.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim decreased 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 report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.18.

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.