The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.44.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on IPG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Sunday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the first quarter worth $31,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the first quarter worth about $44,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $25.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.62. The company has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.01. Interpublic Group of Companies has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Interpublic Group of Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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