Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. by 4.6%, bringing its total ownership to approximately $31.26 million worth of shares.
• Other institutional investors, including Darsana Capital Partners and Vanguard Group, have significantly added to their stakes, with 96.88% of Warner Music's stock now held by institutional investors.
• Warner Music Group recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.18 to $0.19 per share, representing a 2.3% dividend yield for shareholders.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 997,215 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,666 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Warner Music Group worth $31,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 18,142 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 66,843 shares of the company's stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth about $512,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 344,312 shares of the company's stock worth $10,674,000 after buying an additional 1,058,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 744,349 shares of the company's stock worth $23,074,000 after buying an additional 14,149 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Bank of America upgraded Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.88.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.77. 4,293,751 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,488,493. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.70 and a 200 day moving average of $30.19. Warner Music Group Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $25.56 and a fifty-two week high of $36.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a PE ratio of 57.10, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is presently 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.