Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires Shares of 13,445 Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC has acquired 13,445 shares of Warner Music Group Corp., valued at approximately $422,000.
• Warner Music Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19 per share, representing a 2.4% dividend yield.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a revenue increase of 8.7% year-over-year, despite a reported EPS of ($0.03) that missed expectations.

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% during the 4th quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,917,879 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,479,000 after buying an additional 1,500,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,316,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 148.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.2%

WMG stock traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.48. 982,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,900,693. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $28.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.16. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 business 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. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Redburn Atlantic raised Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of 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. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.88.

About Warner Music Group

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.