Woodline Partners LP Buys New Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has purchased a new stake of approximately $10.70 million in Warner Music Group Corp., acquiring 341,405 shares, which accounts for about 0.07% of the company.
• Warner Music Group reported a loss of ($0.03) EPS in its last earnings release, falling short of the consensus estimate, despite revenues increasing by 8.7% year-over-year to $1.69 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.19 per share, marking a yield of 2.2% and reflecting a current dividend payout ratio of 133.33%.

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 341,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,703,000. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.07% of Warner Music Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company's stock worth $479,552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,097,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $450,803,000 after buying an additional 1,316,979 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position 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 valued at $419,427,000 after buying an additional 7,483,839 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $245,531,000 after buying an additional 2,400,500 shares during the period. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its position in Warner Music Group by 5.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.10 on Monday, hitting $33.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,132,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,247. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.81, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $25.56 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.71 and a 200 day moving average of $30.04.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.03) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America raised Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.65.

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.