Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,890,000 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the February 28th total of 9,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total value of $40,248.47. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,234,802.01. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. The trade was a 29.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 2.2 %

Warner Music Group stock opened at $31.56 on Monday. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 79.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

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.