Short Interest in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Decreases By 16.3%

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,930,000 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the September 30th total of 13,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.5 %

WMG opened at $32.20 on Wednesday. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.32 and its 200 day moving average is $30.71.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Warner Music Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WMG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Macquarie dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 135,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $3,812,077.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,725,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,790,405.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757 over the last ninety days. 73.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new position in Warner Music Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $160,156,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Warner Music Group by 41.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,903,000 after buying an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth about $84,281,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 19.6% during the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.