Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires New Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 62,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,144,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,110,000 after buying an additional 1,837,801 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 14.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after buying an additional 2,139,067 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 310,698 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the second quarter valued at about $31,485,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $28.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $34.94. The firm has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 49.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.88.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 131.03%.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.