Verity & Verity LLC Takes $719,000 Position in World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE)

Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new stake in World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in World Wrestling Entertainment by 112.0% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,227,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,688,000 after purchasing an additional 648,300 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new position in World Wrestling Entertainment in the third quarter valued at $41,743,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in World Wrestling Entertainment in the second quarter valued at $16,219,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in World Wrestling Entertainment by 1,207.6% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 252,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,732,000 after purchasing an additional 233,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M.D. Sass Investors Services Inc. acquired a new position in World Wrestling Entertainment in the third quarter valued at $15,507,000. 69.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

World Wrestling Entertainment Price Performance

WWE stock opened at $83.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.45. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.09 and a 1 year high of $93.63. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.01.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.08). World Wrestling Entertainment had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 47.41%. The company had revenue of $325.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $333.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. World Wrestling Entertainment’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Wrestling Entertainment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. World Wrestling Entertainment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWE has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on World Wrestling Entertainment in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Guggenheim upped their target price on World Wrestling Entertainment from $94.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered World Wrestling Entertainment from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Loop Capital upped their price target on World Wrestling Entertainment from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded World Wrestling Entertainment from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.70.

World Wrestling Entertainment Profile

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World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc is an integrated media and entertainment company, which engages in the production and distribution of content through various channels. It operates through the following business segments: Media, Live Events, and Consumer Products. The Media segment reflects the production and monetization of long-form and short-form video content across various platforms including WWE Network, broadcast and pay television, digital and social media, as well as filmed entertainment.