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 recommendation of "Hold" from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.44.

IPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:IPG traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $22.96. 4,570,492 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,454,107. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 1.09. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $33.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.63 and a 200-day moving average of $26.89.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is 100.76%.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $2,325,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 465,454 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,042,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company 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.