National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 106,978 Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 62.0%, acquiring an additional 106,978 shares, bringing its total to 279,480 shares, valued at approximately $7.59 million.
• Interpublic Group reported a quarterly EPS of $0.75, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $2.17 billion, though it saw a 6.6% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, which translates to a yield of 5.2%, despite a payout ratio exceeding 111%.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 62.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,480 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 106,978 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $7,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $1,480,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.4% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 153,830 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 3,547 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.8% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 43,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.5% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 500,207 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,586,000 after acquiring an additional 34,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 106,420.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,326 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,321 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $34.00 to $27.50 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.39.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.10. The company had a trading volume of 5,284,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,948,123. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $24.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.39. The stock has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.51 and a 1-year high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.27% and a return on equity of 28.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is currently 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.