Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG Shares Sold by Independent Franchise Partners LLP

Independent Franchise Partners LLP trimmed its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,096,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,179 shares during the period. Warner Music Group accounts for about 2.6% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned 2.51% of Warner Music Group worth $401,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Warner Music Group by 10.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Warner Music Group by 120.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 948,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,743,000 after purchasing an additional 50,035 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 23.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 193,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 36,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Warner Music Group by 293.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,287,000 after purchasing an additional 475,929 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of WMG stock opened at $28.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.19. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $23.34 and a 1-year high of $35.42.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 89.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMG. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.38.

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.