Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Warner Music Group news, Director Lincoln E. Benet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.96, for a total value of $1,083,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 242,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,503,465.60. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMG. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Warner Music Group by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Warner Music Group by 9,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 379.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group during the third quarter worth $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.88% of the company’s stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Warner Music Group stock opened at $29.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.76. 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.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 69.29%. Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Warner Music Group will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 86.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.