Millennium Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. by 2,000.6%, acquiring an additional 771,740 shares, resulting in ownership of 810,315 shares valued at approximately $25.4 million.
• Research analysts have expressed a favorable outlook on Warner Music Group, with ratings of "buy" or "neutral" and price targets ranging from $31 to $45 per share.
• Warner Music Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19, raising its annualized dividend to $0.76 with a yield of 2.2%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 133.33%.

Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 2,000.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 810,315 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 771,740 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Warner Music Group worth $25,403,000 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company's stock worth $479,552,000 after buying an additional 4,097,688 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.1% in 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 period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 127.0% in the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 13,378,864 shares of the company's stock worth $419,427,000 after buying an additional 7,483,839 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.3% in the first quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 1,014,425 shares of the company's stock worth $31,802,000 after buying an additional 51,021 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded down $0.10 on Monday, reaching $33.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,132,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,247. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $36.64. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 58.81, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37.

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, analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. Barclays raised 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $45.00 price objective on Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.65.

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.