Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Gap Down to $35.65

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.65, but opened at $33.32. Warner Music Group shares last traded at $33.20, with a volume of 668,061 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.18.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.60 and a 200 day moving average of $34.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.77, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.13). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 128.86%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,534,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,374,000 after acquiring an additional 202,147 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,669,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,657,000 after purchasing an additional 684,864 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,319,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,545,000 after buying an additional 1,651,571 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,198,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,068,000 after buying an additional 2,397,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 87.1% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,713,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.