Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Takes $674,000 Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 5,790.5% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 1st quarter worth about $82,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 66.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,475 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 627.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company's stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.02. The company had a trading volume of 726,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,608. The firm has a market cap of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $27.06 and a one year high of $38.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.29 and a 200 day moving average of $31.27.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMG. Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Company 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.