The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Short Interest Down 6.2% in September

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,570,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the August 31st total of 25,130,000 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on IPG shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Tuesday. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned 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 target price of $32.63.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.01. 412,863 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,893,620. Interpublic Group of Companies has a twelve month low of $27.20 and a twelve month high of $35.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 27.98%. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 339,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,090,000 after buying an additional 69,289 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $383,000. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 11,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 181,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,917,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares during the period. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13,944.4% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.