Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $29.80, but opened at $31.00. Warner Music Group shares last traded at $31.05, with a volume of 376,084 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.31.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The stock has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.75.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.