Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases 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 purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after acquiring an additional 82,149 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,000 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% in the 4th quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000,000 after acquiring an additional 5,917,879 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $31.71 on Friday. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $36.64. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.63, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.26.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.30). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is 82.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.83.

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.

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