Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,476,515 shares were traded during 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

WMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Tigress Financial decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.40.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The company has a market capitalization of $15.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.80.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by 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.