Raymond James Financial Inc. Lowers Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. by 3.4%, now owning 339,192 shares valued at approximately $10.63 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Principal Financial Group and GAMMA Investing LLC, have increased their positions in Warner Music Group during the first quarter.
• Warner Music Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19, reflecting a slight increase from the previous dividend, with an annual yield of 2.3%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 339,192 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,797 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Warner Music Group worth $10,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 744,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 14,149 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Warner Music Group by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,360 shares of the company's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth $471,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 713,384 shares of the company's stock worth $22,115,000 after purchasing an additional 95,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.6%

WMG stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.93. The company had a trading volume of 603,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,905,253. 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 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.96 and a 200 day moving average of $30.19. The company has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.79, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.31.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Warner Music Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.88.

Warner Music Group 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.