Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 40.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,357,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 920,153 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $38,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 243,700.0% during the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $27.08 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.74. The company has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 1.11. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.30 and a twelve month high of $35.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. As a group, analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.