Hahn Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 255,101 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,882 shares during the quarter. Warner Music Group makes up 3.5% of Hahn Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Hahn Capital Management LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $7,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company's stock worth $257,207,000 after acquiring an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company's stock worth $164,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,715 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,370,973 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 2,198.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 507,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,886,000 after purchasing an additional 485,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,140,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,361,000 after purchasing an additional 437,077 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.81.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $33.22. 1,668,050 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,925,804. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company's 50 day moving average price is $32.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.43.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Warner Music Group

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at $3,234,802.01. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at $7,503,465.60. This trade represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,333 shares of company stock worth $2,124,602. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Warner Music Group 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.