The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Purchased by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $1,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% in the 4th 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,449,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,107,000 after acquiring an additional 81,265 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $421,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $24.57 on Monday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.51 and a 52 week high of $33.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.44 and a 200-day moving average of $28.37.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.37%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company Profile

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.