Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Acquired by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Key Points

• Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 4.2%, bringing its holding to 8,914,756 shares (about 1.71% of the company) worth roughly $303.6 million, and institutional investors now own about 96.88% of the stock.
• Warner's latest quarter showed mixed results: revenue of $1.84 billion beat estimates and rose 10.4% year-over-year, but EPS of $0.33 missed the $0.40 consensus.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $35.69 (12 Buys, 8 Holds); the stock trades near $26.81 with a market cap of $14 billion, a PE of 46.2, and a 2.8% dividend yield (payout ratio ~131%).

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,914,756 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 363,092 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 1.71% of Warner Music Group worth $303,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 480.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group set a $33.00 price target on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG opened at $26.81 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $34.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 46.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.03%.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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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