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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,738,641 shares, an increase of 24.0% from the January 29th total of 6,241,708 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,787,877 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 3,787,877 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Warner Music Group

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Scotiabank upgraded Warner Music Group from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.69.

Warner Music Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WMG stock opened at $28.29 on Thursday. Warner Music Group has a 1-year low of $25.56 and a 1-year high of $34.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.67 and a 200-day moving average of $30.86.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 38.33%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.03%.

About Warner Music Group

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.