Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Receives “Buy” Rating from Benchmark

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 49.63% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on WBD. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Warner Bros. Discovery from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Warner Bros. Discovery from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.41.

Warner Bros. Discovery Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WBD stock opened at $12.03 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.98. The stock has a market cap of $29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 1.54. Warner Bros. Discovery has a fifty-two week low of $6.64 and a fifty-two week high of $12.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery had a negative return on equity of 30.56% and a negative net margin of 28.16%. Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.40) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Warner Bros. Discovery will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Bros. Discovery

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBD. Prudential PLC raised its stake in Warner Bros. Discovery by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 135,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 32,102 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Bros. Discovery in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,914,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Warner Bros. Discovery during the fourth quarter worth about $3,022,000. Hi Line Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Hi Line Capital Management LLC now owns 597,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,411,000 after acquiring an additional 90,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 291,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 10,024 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.95% of the company’s stock.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc operates as a media and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC. The Studios segment produces and releases feature films for initial exhibition in theaters; produces and licenses television programs to its networks and third parties and direct-to-consumer services; distributes films and television programs to various third parties and internal television; and offers streaming services and distribution through the home entertainment market, themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.