Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Short Interest Update

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,223,705 shares, a decrease of 24.1% from the December 15th total of 6,878,622 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,246,852 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,246,852 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Warner Music Group by 207.7% in the fourth quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 75,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 50,967 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $905,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth about $9,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of WMG stock opened at $30.59 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.70, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.51 and a 200 day moving average of $31.17. Warner Music Group has a 52 week low of $25.56 and a 52 week high of $36.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 47.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is presently 108.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.94.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

Warner Music Group is a major global music company that operates across recorded music and music publishing. Its recorded-music business comprises a portfolio of well-known labels—including Atlantic, Warner Records and Parlophone—as well as distribution and artist-services operations that support both established and emerging artists. The company’s publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, manages songwriting catalogs and administers rights for compositions across multiple media, providing licensing for film, television, advertising and other commercial uses.

WMG’s activities span the full music value chain: signing and developing artists, producing and marketing recordings, distributing music through physical channels and streaming platforms, and monetizing rights through licensing, synchronization and neighboring-rights collection.