Citigroup Inc. Reduces Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143,026 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 120.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 57.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 480.9% in the 2nd 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 period. 96.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 4.3%

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $27.84 on Monday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $34.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.79. The firm has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.00, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 131.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Scotiabank upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Profile

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.