Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.0143.

Several brokerages have weighed in on IPG. Barclays cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $34.00 to $27.50 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $27.00 to $25.60 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock opened at $26.26 on Friday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $33.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.10 and a 200-day moving average of $25.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 4.27% and a return on equity of 28.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.86%.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,819,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $362,794,000 after purchasing an additional 934,613 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,998,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $342,687,000 after purchasing an additional 217,212 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,610,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,752,000 after purchasing an additional 360,987 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,510,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $143,727,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.