GSA Capital Partners LLP Has $1.11 Million Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 340.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,695 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,267 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 12.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,914,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,801 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,920,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 6,227.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,173,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,027,000 after buying an additional 2,139,067 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,025,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,181,000 after buying an additional 310,698 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $31,485,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Scotiabank upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $29.80 and its 200-day moving average is $31.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.10.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

About Warner Music Group

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.