Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Holdings Lifted by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. by 338.1% in the first quarter, owning 162,215 shares worth approximately $5 million.
• Several large investors, including Fifth Third Bancorp and MetLife Investment Management LLC, have also raised their holdings in Warner Music Group, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Warner Music Group, with Citigroup setting a new target of $41.00, while the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $34.65.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 338.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,215 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 125,186 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $5,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,552,000 after buying an additional 4,097,688 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company's stock worth $450,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316,979 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 127.0% during the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company's stock worth $419,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,483,839 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock worth $245,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5.3% during the first quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 1,014,425 shares of the company's stock worth $31,802,000 after purchasing an additional 51,021 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $45.00 price objective on Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.65.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $33.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,535,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,666,579. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.08. The firm has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Warner Music Group Company 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.