Independent Franchise Partners LLP Reduces Stock Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Independent Franchise Partners LLP reduced its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.7% in Q2, now holding 13,280,185 shares worth $361.75 million. Other institutional investors like JPMorgan and Vanguard have increased their holdings. Analysts have mixed ratings on WMG, with a consensus of 'Moderate Buy' and an average price target of $34.88. Warner Music Group's recent earnings missed estimates, but revenue increased by 14.6% year-over-year. The company announced a quarterly dividend, paid on December 2nd.

Independent Franchise Partners LLP lessened its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,280,185 shares of the company's stock after selling 98,679 shares during the period. Warner Music Group accounts for approximately 2.4% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned approximately 2.55% of Warner Music Group worth $361,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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Big 3 Music Giant Warner: Streaming Boom Sends Shares Higher

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 36.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,296,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,552,000 after acquiring an additional 4,097,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,379,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,803,000 after buying an additional 1,316,979 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,485,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 2,198.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 999,613 shares of the company's stock worth $31,338,000 after acquiring an additional 956,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2,000.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 810,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,403,000 after acquiring an additional 771,740 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMG. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, November 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research raised Warner Music Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Warner Music Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.88.

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Warner Music Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $27.79 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.46 and a 200-day moving average of $30.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.76, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64.

The Market Is Suddenly All Ears on Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 39.95% and a net margin of 4.59%.The firm's revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

About Warner Music Group

(Free Report)

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.

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