The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Stake Lowered by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 13,210,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $370,157,000 after buying an additional 7,693,636 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 12,975,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,584,000 after buying an additional 1,492,019 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,938,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $362,538,000 after buying an additional 511,607 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,264,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $287,618,000 after buying an additional 1,320,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,531,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,614,000 after buying an additional 81,996 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IPG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $23.08 on Tuesday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.36 and a 200-day moving average of $26.73. The company has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies 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.