Short Interest in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Drops By 22.1%

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,030,000 shares, a drop of 22.1% from the December 15th total of 7,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Warner Music Group Stock Down 0.0 %

Warner Music Group stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,383,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,181,283. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $38.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $31.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.35.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Warner Music Group's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total transaction of $1,083,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 242,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 73.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Warner Music Group by 37.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,754,504 shares of the company's stock worth $274,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370,973 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 2,699.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,217,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,207,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923,926 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Warner Music Group by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,072,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,994 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 91.5% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 5,264,498 shares of the company's stock worth $164,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514,715 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP acquired a new position in Warner Music Group during the second quarter worth approximately $160,156,000. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WMG. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Warner Music Group from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.31.

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.