Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $24.32 Million Holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. $WMG

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group boosted its stake in Warner Music Group by 207.5% in the first quarter, ending with 952,316 shares valued at about $24.3 million.
• Other large institutional investors also increased their WMG holdings, and 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds, highlighting strong professional investor interest.
• Warner Music Group recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.44 versus estimates of $0.30 and revenue up 16.7% year over year; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target of $38.43.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 207.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 952,316 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 642,590 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Warner Music Group worth $24,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,645,276 shares of the company's stock worth $510,511,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200,362 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Warner Music Group by 178.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,183,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,425 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Warner Music Group by 112.8% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,226,151 shares of the company's stock worth $75,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,256 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Warner Music Group during the fourth quarter worth $35,449,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Warner Music Group in the third quarter valued at $36,821,000. 96.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMG shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Warner Music Group from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Warner Music Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Warner Music Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.43.

Warner Music Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMG opened at $28.06 on Tuesday. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $23.34 and a 12-month high of $35.42. The company's 50 day moving average price is $29.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.05. The firm has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.01, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 62.01%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Warner Music Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Warner Music Group's payout ratio is currently 89.41%.

Warner Music Group Company Profile

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.

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