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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during 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 daily volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WMG traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $32.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 481,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,829,993. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $38.05. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $30.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.58 billion. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 101.32% and a net margin of 8.56%. On average, equities analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Warner Music Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Warner Music Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, CEO Max Lousada sold 428,834 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $12,007,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,289,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,113,588. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 628,205 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,757. Insiders own 73.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Warner Music Group during the first quarter worth about $759,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 289.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 92,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,066,000 after buying an additional 69,089 shares during the period. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the 2nd quarter worth $606,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 108.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 70,030 shares of the company's stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 36,480 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $15,766,000. Hedge funds and other 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.