Short Interest in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Expands By 43.6%

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,210,000 shares, a growth of 43.6% from the February 13th total of 23,130,000 shares. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:IPG opened at $26.23 on Tuesday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $33.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.24. 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 capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.14.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IPG. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 243,700.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised 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 report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

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.