Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 82.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 43,588 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203,972 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $1,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of WMG opened at $28.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.20 and a 200 day moving average of $29.13. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52-week low of $23.34 and a 52-week high of $35.42. 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 (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.87.

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.