Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Short Interest Up 122.8% in June

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,470,000 shares, a growth of 122.8% from the June 15th total of 4,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, May 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Warner Music Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Warner Music Group from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Warner Music Group in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.19.

Warner Music Group Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of WMG traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $30.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,269,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,850,569. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.81. The company has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.38. Warner Music Group has a one year low of $28.03 and a one year high of $38.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.40.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.07. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 120.42%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Warner Music Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Warner Music Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,201,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881,684 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,861,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,679,000 after purchasing an additional 192,215 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,198,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,232 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 87.1% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,713,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,690 shares during the period. Finally, Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 1,739,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,445,000 after buying an additional 27,252 shares during the last quarter. 96.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.