The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.71.

A number of research firms recently commented on IPG. BNP Paribas cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 14.2% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 25,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.0% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 50,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.1% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 143,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 9,486 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 17,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG stock opened at $28.13 on Wednesday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 12-month low of $26.88 and a 12-month high of $35.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.16. 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 company has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.11.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.26%.

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.