Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG is Darsana Capital Partners LP's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Darsana Capital Partners increased its Warner Music Group stake by 0.8% in the second quarter to 11.94 million shares, worth approximately $323.3 million and representing 1.5% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 96.88% of WMG.
• Warner Music Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.51 in EPS and $1.86 billion in revenue, with revenue up 10.4% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share, or an annualized $0.80.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable but mixed: WMG has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 16 analysts and a consensus price target of $38.25, compared with shares opening at $28.16.

Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,943,199 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,199 shares during the quarter. Warner Music Group makes up about 1.5% of Darsana Capital Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Darsana Capital Partners LP owned about 2.28% of Warner Music Group worth $323,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 423,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,975,000 after purchasing an additional 95,956 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,494,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $510,511,000 after buying an additional 2,200,362 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 267.9% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 78,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,006,000 after buying an additional 57,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,217,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Warner Music Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.25.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $28.16 on Thursday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $23.34 and a 1-year high of $35.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business's 50 day moving average is $27.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.31.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.17. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 85.50% and a net margin of 9.20%.The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.03) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company's publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG's activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.

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