Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.71.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:IPG opened at $28.11 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 quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.10.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is presently 62.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IPG. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,277,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,041,000 after buying an additional 157,695 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $485,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 295,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,322,000 after buying an additional 4,848 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 336,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after acquiring an additional 9,567 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 139,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,428,000 after buying an additional 16,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.