Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Position 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. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 997,215 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 43,666 shares during the quarter. 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% in 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 during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,575 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,510 shares of the company's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMG. 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.88.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.9%

WMG traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.07. 2,080,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,633,531. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.19. The firm has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.26. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

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.