Short Interest in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Increases By 8.0%

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,450,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 22,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,426,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $393,064,000 after purchasing an additional 270,857 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,449,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,107,000 after purchasing an additional 81,265 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.5% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,710,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,117,000 after purchasing an additional 193,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 19.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,436,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,157,000 after purchasing an additional 899,332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IPG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $27.84 on Tuesday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1-year low of $26.30 and a 1-year high of $35.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.79 and a 200-day moving average of $30.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date was 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.