Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Warner Music Group by 3.8%, selling 309,791 shares, while still retaining approximately 1.2% of its investment portfolio in the company.
• Warner Music Group recently reported earnings per share of $0.07, missing expectations of $0.28, alongside a net revenue of $1.48 billion, which fell short of estimates.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18, with a dividend yield of 2.32%, highlighting a payout ratio of 82.76%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,883,786 shares of the company's stock after selling 309,791 shares during the quarter. Warner Music Group accounts for 1.2% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 1.52% of Warner Music Group worth $247,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 117,095 shares of the company's stock worth $3,630,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 4.3%

NASDAQ:WMG traded down $1.34 on Tuesday, reaching $29.70. 3,048,528 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,690,589. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43. The company has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $25.56 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $28.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.13.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Warner Music Group's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.72.

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.