River Road Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 4.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 262,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,559 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $8,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 571.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,466,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,657,000 after buying an additional 1,248,062 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 19.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,436,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,157,000 after buying an additional 899,332 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 101.9% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,690,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,162,000 after buying an additional 853,287 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,842,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $199,063,000 after buying an additional 828,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the first quarter valued at $20,493,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IPG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $34.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE IPG opened at $29.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $31.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.69. 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 Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.00 and a 52 week high of $35.17. The company has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.10.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.26%.

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.