PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 627.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,485 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 50,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $324,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $501,000. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its position in Warner Music Group by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 479,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,068,000 after purchasing an additional 151,778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMG. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, May 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.88.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $30.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.38 and a 200-day moving average of $33.55. The stock has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.38. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $25.28 and a 52 week high of $38.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.07. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 120.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.00%.

Warner Music Group 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.