Aquatic Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 158,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,384,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 480.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, November 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

WMG stock opened at $27.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.52. The stock has a market cap of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.24. Warner Music Group Corp. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $34.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.07). Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 38.33% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.03%.

About Warner Music Group

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.