Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $25.39 and last traded at $25.49, with a volume of 751709 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WMG. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Scotiabank upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.48. The company has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 131.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,596 shares in the last quarter. Covalis Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 203.1% during the 2nd quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 566,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,435,000 after buying an additional 379,661 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 762.5% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 74,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 65,714 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,418,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139,067 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.