Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Has $245.53 Million Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 43.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned approximately 1.53% of Warner Music Group worth $245,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Warner Music Group by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $26.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $26.04 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. Analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 82.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. FBN Securities started coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,808.07. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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.

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