Entropy Technologies LP Boosts Stock Position in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) by 267.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,534 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,188 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Warner Music Group were worth $2,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,511,000 after buying an additional 2,200,362 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 178.5% during the third 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 during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 112.8% during the third 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,449,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth approximately $36,821,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.43.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $26.55 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $23.34 and a twelve month high of $35.42. The stock has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.30.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.41%.

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.