Quantbot Technologies LP Increases Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 108.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 70,030 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,480 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 627.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMG has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, May 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.12.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.91. 4,118,066 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,870,206. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $28.30 and a one year high of $38.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81. The company has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.07. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 120.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.00%.

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.