StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in a report published on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the business services provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,414,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,151,315. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.49 and a 200 day moving average of $27.60. Interpublic Group of Companies 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,651,753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,243,000 after buying an additional 13,546 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $107,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 295,937 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,322,000 after purchasing an additional 4,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,277,771 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $72,041,000 after purchasing an additional 157,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

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.