Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,415,266 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the December 31st total of 5,223,705 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,970,090 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,970,090 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Warner Music Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.35.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $30.20 on Tuesday. Warner Music Group has a 1 year low of $25.56 and a 1 year high of $36.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.18. The company has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.14, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77.

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

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Warner Music Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMG. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 10.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 77,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 120.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 948,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,743,000 after acquiring an additional 50,035 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 528.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,226,000 after acquiring an additional 6,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

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.