TIG Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 143,980 The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

TIG Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 143,980 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,034,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the 4th 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. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

NYSE:IPG traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,111,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,154,837. The company has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.51 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.58 and a 200-day moving average of $27.69.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.