Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $1.57 Million Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 42.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 62,225 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,637 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,511,000 after buying an additional 2,200,362 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 178.5% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,425 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 112.8% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,226,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,256 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,449,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Warner Music Group in the third quarter worth approximately $36,821,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $27.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $23.34 and a 12-month high of $35.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.93.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 62.01% and a net margin of 6.34%.The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 89.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.43.

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.