WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes $801,000 Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 29,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,979 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 127.0% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,839 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,025,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after purchasing an additional 310,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,485,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,147,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,253,000 after buying an additional 11,566 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $27.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 47.78% and a net margin of 5.44%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. Analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.88.

Warner Music Group 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.