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

Hahn Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,219 shares of the company's stock after selling 92,147 shares during the period. Warner Music Group accounts for 3.9% of Hahn Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Hahn Capital Management LLC's holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $6,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 154,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,110,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Warner Music Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 17,548 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 9,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.3 %

WMG stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.38. The stock had a trading volume of 788,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,579. The firm has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.82. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.05. 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 (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $1,809,327.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,909,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,191,171.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 over the last ninety days. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.