World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 27th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, December 15th will be given a dividend of 0.12 per share on Tuesday, December 27th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 14th.
World Wrestling Entertainment has a payout ratio of 17.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect World Wrestling Entertainment to earn $2.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.3%.
World Wrestling Entertainment Stock Performance
World Wrestling Entertainment stock opened at $78.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.63. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 1.11. World Wrestling Entertainment has a 12-month low of $46.91 and a 12-month high of $79.83.
World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 16th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $328.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.38 million. World Wrestling Entertainment had a return on equity of 55.00% and a net margin of 18.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that World Wrestling Entertainment will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WWE. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its position in World Wrestling Entertainment by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 767,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,931,000 after buying an additional 46,351 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment by 55.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment during the first quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment by 11,166.7% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 20,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 20,100 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in World Wrestling Entertainment by 38.2% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 8,279 shares in the last quarter. 69.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have commented on WWE. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of World Wrestling Entertainment to $83.00 in a report on Monday, August 22nd. MKM Partners boosted their price objective on shares of World Wrestling Entertainment from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. Loop Capital raised shares of World Wrestling Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $159.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on World Wrestling Entertainment from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 17th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded World Wrestling Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 18th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, World Wrestling Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.40.
World Wrestling Entertainment Company Profile
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World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc, an integrated media and entertainment company, engages in the sports entertainment business in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Media, Live Events, and Consumer Products. The Media segment engages in the production and monetization of long-form and short-form video content across various platforms, including WWE Network, broadcast and pay television, and digital and social media, as well as filmed entertainment.
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