Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 326,449 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,103 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Warner Music Group worth $10,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMG. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 29,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Warner Music Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% during the first quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 22,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 5,010 shares during the period. Balefire LLC increased its position in shares of Warner Music Group by 6.5% during the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 71,632 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,246,000 after buying an additional 4,396 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Warner Music Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 428,526 shares of the company's stock worth $13,434,000 after buying an additional 4,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Price Performance

Shares of WMG stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.46. 1,289,761 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,835,455. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12-month low of $25.56 and a 12-month high of $36.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.01, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $27.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.43.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Warner Music Group had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 64.64%. The company's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 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, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Warner Music Group from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Warner Music Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Warner Music Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Warner Music Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Warner Music Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.19.

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.