Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 128.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of WMG stock traded down $1.14 on Friday, hitting $31.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,676,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,547,837. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.50, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.43. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $23.62 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.11.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital raised their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.18.

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.