Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) Short Interest Down in June

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,480,000 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the May 31st total of 4,160,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

NASDAQ:WMG opened at $24.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.78 and its 200 day moving average is $34.39. Warner Music Group has a fifty-two week low of $23.74 and a fifty-two week high of $50.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 10th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 362.14%. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Warner Music Group will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 20th. Warner Music Group’s payout ratio is 84.51%.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMG shares. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Warner Music Group from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Warner Music Group from $49.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 11th. Redburn Partners reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Monday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $31.00 and set a “na” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Warner Music Group from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.58.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMG. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 5.7% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 7.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Warner Music Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 22.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.