The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.31 (NYSE:IPG)

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, June 20th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%.

Interpublic Group of Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Interpublic Group of Companies has a payout ratio of 39.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Interpublic Group of Companies to earn $3.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.2%.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $37.49 on Friday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $25.14 and a 1 year high of $39.52. The company has a market cap of $14.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $36.56 and a 200-day moving average of $35.35.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The business services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.07. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 29.28%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrew Bonzani sold 38,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $1,384,694.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 111,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,094.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 16,507 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total value of $586,658.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 55,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,969,129.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew Bonzani sold 38,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $1,384,694.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 111,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,094.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,779 shares of company stock worth $3,250,936. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $256,699,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1,196.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,280,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,651,000 after purchasing an additional 5,796,432 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,885,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $162,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,179 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,707,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,691,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,059 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 200.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,605,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on IPG. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company Profile

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Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc engages in the provision of marketing, communications, and business transformation services. It operates through the following segments: Media, Data, and Engagement Solutions, Integrated Advertising and Creativity Led Solutions, and Specialized Communications and Experiential Solutions.