SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 20,632 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 69.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,140 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,632 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 46,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 50,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 10,230 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 284.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 3,436 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 641,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,679,000 after buying an additional 193,721 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 706,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,660,000 after acquiring an additional 153,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $28.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. The firm has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.13. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMG. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research lowered Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.38.

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.