Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Lowers Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,052 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,058,998 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $10,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 57.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Warner Music Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 16,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMG. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.35.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WMG opened at $29.98 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.47 and its 200 day moving average is $31.19. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. The company has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.83, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.24.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.14). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 47.78% and a net margin of 5.44%.The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

Warner Music Group Company 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.