Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,521 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,759 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $3,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 154,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 17,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 9,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.2 %

WMG opened at $30.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.12. The company has a market cap of $15.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 101.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,289,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.69.

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.