Woodline Partners LP Purchases New Shares 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 position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,448 shares of the company's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,388 shares of the company's stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 77,901 shares of the company's stock worth $2,442,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 7.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,575 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,510 shares of the company's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.65.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.39. 118,709 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,881,939. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.59, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.31. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.06.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

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

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.