Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) $IPG

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 11.9%, now owning 92,412 shares valued at approximately $2.51 million.
• Interpublic Group reported earnings of $0.75 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing expectations, although its revenue declined 6.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33, implying an annual yield of 4.9%, despite a high payout ratio of 111.86%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,412 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,848 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $2,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,172,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 797.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,463,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,105 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1,475.5% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,328,121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243,823 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 32.0% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,972,412 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $135,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 340.9% in the 1st quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 1,551,100 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on IPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $27.00 to $25.60 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays cut Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $27.50 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Interpublic Group of Companies to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.01.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:IPG traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.40. 3,316,785 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,028,826. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $25.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.23. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.51 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.20. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 28.72% and a net margin of 4.27%.The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Interpublic Group of Companies's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is 111.86%.

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.