Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Macquarie

Macquarie reissued their neutral rating on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Macquarie currently has a $30.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WMG. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Tigress Financial lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

WMG opened at $31.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.68. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The company has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total value of $1,809,327.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,191,171.50. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,207,000 after buying an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $160,156,000. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its position in Warner Music Group by 47.4% during the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,122,000 after purchasing an additional 831,114 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Warner Music Group

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.