Arlington Partners LLC Takes $1.67 Million Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• Arlington Partners LLC acquired 61,429 shares of Warner Music Group Corp., valued at approximately $1.67 million, in a recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Warner Music Group, with notable increases from JPMorgan Chase and Vanguard Group.
• Warner Music Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, reflecting a 2.3% yield and an increase from the previous quarter's dividend.

Arlington Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 61,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 45.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,820 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 1.1%

WMG traded down $0.38 during trading on Monday, reaching $33.16. 2,338,472 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,598,467. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.03.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMG. UBS Group set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.65.

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.