Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Makes New Investment in World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 25th, 2023

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in World Wrestling Entertainment by 73.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 3,686 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment by 146.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 5,832 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP raised its stake in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment by 27.1% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 9,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA acquired a new stake in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment in the third quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of World Wrestling Entertainment by 161.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 8,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares in the last quarter. 69.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

World Wrestling Entertainment Stock Performance

NYSE WWE opened at $109.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.09 and a 52-week high of $110.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $90.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.15. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.67 and a beta of 1.18.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 47.41% and a net margin of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $325.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $333.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

World Wrestling Entertainment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. World Wrestling Entertainment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded World Wrestling Entertainment from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Benchmark cut World Wrestling Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of World Wrestling Entertainment in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research cut World Wrestling Entertainment from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded World Wrestling Entertainment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.44.

About World Wrestling Entertainment

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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.