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

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,890,000 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the February 28th total of 9,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of Warner Music Group stock opened at $31.32 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.08. Warner Music Group has a twelve month low of $27.06 and a twelve month high of $36.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. Analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMG shares. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised Warner Music Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Warner Music Group from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Warner Music Group

In other news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.49, for a total transaction of $40,248.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,802.01. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of Warner Music Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,504,000 after buying an additional 82,149 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,169,000 after buying an additional 2,444,508 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP increased its position in Warner Music Group by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 10,370,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Warner Music Group by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 7,206.3% during the fourth quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 6,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000,000 after buying an additional 5,917,879 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Warner Music Group

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.