The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.71.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IPG. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 34,122 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 26.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 27,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 5,799 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 176.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 254,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after buying an additional 162,468 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 6.7% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 4,531 shares during the period. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 14.9% during the second quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 7,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

IPG stock opened at $30.11 on Friday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a twelve month low of $26.88 and a twelve month high of $35.17. The company has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.38.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.26%.

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.