Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on IPG. Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE:IPG opened at $23.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 12-month low of $23.67 and a 12-month high of $33.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.14.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. Equities research analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.57%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $155.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IPG. State Street Corp grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,993,000 after buying an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 240.9% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 20,395 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,449,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,107,000 after buying an additional 81,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

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.