New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Invests $880,000 in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 286,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,777,000 after purchasing an additional 111,808 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 22.6% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 249,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,646,000 after buying an additional 46,066 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 14.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 11,035 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,061,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,122,000 after acquiring an additional 831,114 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $901,000. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Max Lousada sold 64,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.25, for a total transaction of $1,809,327.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,909,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,191,171.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WMG. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.19.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $27.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.37. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.50 and a 200 day moving average of $31.50.

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

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. This is a positive change from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Warner Music Group Company 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.