Morgan Stanley Begins Coverage on Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG)

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Warner Music Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.18.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.6 %

WMG opened at $35.65 on Monday. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $23.62 and a twelve month high of $38.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.11. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51, 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 posted its quarterly 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). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 128.86% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.27%.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 9,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 8.5% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 94.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.