Federated Hermes Inc. Buys Shares of 15,823 Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 17,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 1.6 %

WMG stock opened at $30.92 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.07. The stock has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $38.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a boost from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WMG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic restated a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at $76,790,405.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock worth $17,628,757 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

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.