Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,476,515 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session’s volume of 1,466,743 shares.The stock last traded at $29.73 and had previously closed at $31.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $31.93 and a 200-day moving average of $30.78.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In other news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 owns 242,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,272.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 242,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,420,000 after acquiring an additional 231,892 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 11,035 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $338,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $674,000. 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.