Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 43,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,321,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position 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 worth $74,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,067 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 178.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,425 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Warner Music Group by 5,055.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,860,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Warner Music Group by 112.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,226,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,256 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMG. Scotiabank raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.38.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 2.5%

WMG opened at $31.54 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.34 and a 200 day moving average of $29.22. The company has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.25. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $23.34 and a 12 month high of $35.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. Warner Music Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.41%.

About Warner Music Group

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.