PDT Partners LLC Has $3.12 Million Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC reduced its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. by 17.1%, selling 20,473 shares, leaving them with 99,451 shares valued at approximately $3.1 million.
• Warner Music Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.19, representing a yield of 2.3%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Warner Music Group, with a consensus target price of $33.88 and a majority rating it as a Moderate Buy.

PDT Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,451 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,473 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $3,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WMG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 10.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 7,119 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 1st quarter worth $225,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth $566,000. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 190.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,422 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $32.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,289,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,913. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.20 and a 200-day moving average of $30.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.31.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The company's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.