Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 65.3% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 2.57 million shares worth about $69.8 million.
• Interpublic Group's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $0.75 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $0.55, though revenue experienced a 6.6% decline year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.02%, despite a high payout ratio of 111.86%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 65.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,570,788 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,832,468 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.70% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $69,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IPG. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the first quarter worth $31,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1,219.5% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,164 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on IPG. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $27.00 to $25.60 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $27.50 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.39.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $26.30 on Friday. Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.51 and a 12-month high of $33.05. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is currently 111.86%.

Interpublic Group of Companies Profile

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.

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