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

Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 255,101 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,882 shares during the period. Warner Music Group comprises about 3.5% of Hahn Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Hahn Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $7,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,016,000 after buying an additional 2,370,973 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,207,000 after buying an additional 7,923,926 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,779,000 after buying an additional 2,514,715 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,284,000 after purchasing an additional 49,166 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,247,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $33.78 on Friday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The firm has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.34.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 64,333 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,602. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.81.

About Warner Music Group

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.