Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $204.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 29.03% from the company’s previous close.

LYV has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment from $164.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Live Nation Entertainment from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Live Nation Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Live Nation Entertainment from $170.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.95.

Live Nation Entertainment Stock Performance

Live Nation Entertainment stock opened at $158.10 on Wednesday. Live Nation Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $112.88 and a fifty-two week high of $175.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $37.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -658.74, a PEG ratio of 18.85 and a beta of 1.18.

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.00) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Live Nation Entertainment had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 48.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Live Nation Entertainment will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Nation Entertainment

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,269,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 161.9% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 16,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,513,000 after acquiring an additional 10,269 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Live Nation Entertainment by 4.1% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Live Nation Entertainment in the second quarter worth about $941,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Live Nation Entertainment by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. 74.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment is a global live entertainment company that promotes, operates and sells tickets for live events. The company’s core activities include concert promotion and production, venue operations and management, ticketing services through its Ticketmaster platform, artist management and development, and sponsorship and advertising services tied to live events. These integrated businesses are designed to connect artists, fans and commercial partners across the live event ecosystem.

The company in its current form was created following the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, combining a promoter and venue operator with one of the industry’s largest ticketing platforms.