Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,041 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,011 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $9,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 10.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 50,035 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Warner Music Group by 293.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,287,000 after acquiring an additional 475,929 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.38.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG stock opened at $31.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.48 and a 200-day moving average of $29.22. The company has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $23.34 and a 12-month high of $35.42.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 89.41%.

Warner Music Group 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.