Aristides Capital LLC Invests $229,000 in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMG. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 1,739,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,445,000 after purchasing an additional 27,252 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 126,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 12,176 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 116,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 8,809 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 67,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934 shares during the period. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.83. 2,137,443 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,216,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.06. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 1-year low of $28.89 and a 1-year high of $38.05.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 120.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Monday, May 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, 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 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.13.

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.