Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Bought by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 97.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 103,176 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,017 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,362 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,111,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at $35,449,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 88.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,521,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,867,000 after buying an additional 713,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 207.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 952,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,323,000 after buying an additional 642,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.25.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.73. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $23.34 and a one year high of $35.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.17. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 85.50%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 63.49%.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group Corp. is a global music entertainment company that operates through two principal businesses: recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music operations discover, develop, market and distribute music from a broad roster of artists through labels including Warner Records, Atlantic Records, Elektra Music Group and Parlophone.

The company’s music publishing business, Warner Chappell Music, manages and administers copyrights for songwriters and composers. Warner Music Group also provides artist and label services, digital distribution, licensing, marketing, physical and digital sales, and other services that support the commercial use of recorded music and musical compositions.

Warner Music Group serves artists, songwriters, labels, streaming platforms, broadcasters, brands and other music-industry partners in markets around the world.