Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,374,959 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,341 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.37% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $37,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 13,210,446 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $370,157,000 after purchasing an additional 7,693,636 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,387 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12,548.6% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,425,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $67,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,406,073 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $51,794,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 12,975,872 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $363,584,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492,019 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Barclays lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $27.50 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.06.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.76. The stock had a trading volume of 5,409,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,909,581. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 1.05. 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, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.21% and a net margin of 4.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.76%.

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.