The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Receives $33.50 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.50.

Several research firms have commented on IPG. Argus downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 105,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,352,000 after acquiring an additional 12,201 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $578,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 90.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 196,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,226,000 after purchasing an additional 93,251 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 116,722 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 12,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,651,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,243,000 after buying an additional 13,546 shares during the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG stock opened at $24.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.37. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $22.51 and a 1 year high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. 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 5.37%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.13%.

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

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.