Aristides Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.83. 2,137,443 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,216,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $28.89 and a 52-week high of $38.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 120.42% and a net margin of 8.28%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. Warner Music Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, May 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.13.

Warner Music Group Company 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.