Financial Survey: Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) & Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADVWW)

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) and Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADVWW) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Interpublic Group of Companies and Advantage Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Interpublic Group of Companies	0	4	3	0	2.43
Advantage Solutions	0	0	0	0	N/A

Interpublic Group of Companies currently has a consensus price target of $35.25, indicating a potential upside of 13.60%. Given Interpublic Group of Companies’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Interpublic Group of Companies is more favorable than Advantage Solutions.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Interpublic Group of Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Interpublic Group of Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Interpublic Group of Companies and Advantage Solutions’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Interpublic Group of Companies	$10.89 billion	1.08	$1.10 billion	$2.85	10.89
Advantage Solutions	$4.22 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Interpublic Group of Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Advantage Solutions.

Profitability

This table compares Interpublic Group of Companies and Advantage Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Interpublic Group of Companies	10.09%	30.52%	6.58%
Advantage Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Interpublic Group of Companies beats Advantage Solutions on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Media, Data & Engagement Solutions, Integrated Advertising & Creativity Led Solutions, and Specialized Communications & Experiential Solutions. The Media, Data & Engagement Solutions segment provides media and communications services, digital services and products, advertising and marketing technology, e-commerce services, data management and analytics, strategic consulting, and digital brand experience under the IPG Mediabrands, UM, Initiative, Kinesso, Acxiom, Huge, MRM, and R/GA brand names. The Integrated Advertising & Creativity Led Solutions segment offers advertising, corporate, and brand identity services; and strategic consulting under FCB, IPG Health, McCann Worldgroup, and MullenLowe Group brands. Specialized Communications & Experiential Solutions segment provides public relations and other specialized communications services, live events, sports and entertainment marketing, and strategic consulting under IPG DXTRA Health, The Weber Shandwick Collective, Golin, Jack Morton, Momentum, and Octagon brand names. The company was formerly known as McCann-Erickson Incorporated and changed its name to The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. in January 1961. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Advantage Solutions

Advantage Solutions Inc. provides business solutions to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in North America and internationally. It operates in two segments, Sales and Marketing. The Sales segment offers brand-centric services, such as headquarter relationship management; analytics, insights, and intelligence; and brand-centric merchandising services. This segment also provides retailer-centric services comprising retailer-centric merchandising and in-store media services. The Marketing segment offers brand-centric services, including shopper and consumer marketing, and brand experiential services; retailer-centric services, such as retail experiential and private label services; and digital marketing, and digital media and advertising services. The company was formerly known as Karman Holding Corp. and changed its name to Advantage Solutions Inc. in March 2016. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.