Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

IPG has been the subject of several other reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:IPG opened at $29.62 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.67. The company has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $28.00 and a fifty-two week high of $35.17.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 62.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 652.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

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.