Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18 on September 4th

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 15th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share on Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17.

Warner Music Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 40.1% annually over the last three years. Warner Music Group has a dividend payout ratio of 46.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Warner Music Group to earn $1.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.9%.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26. The company has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.02. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $38.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WMG. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.19.

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.