WPP (NYSE:WPP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of WPP (NYSE:WPP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WPP. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of WPP in a research note on Friday. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded WPP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of WPP in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

WPP Stock Down 0.4%

WPP opened at $24.64 on Friday. WPP has a fifty-two week low of $24.49 and a fifty-two week high of $57.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.16 and a 200-day moving average of $37.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

WPP Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.5033 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1,060.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. WPP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WPP. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WPP by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,720,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $255,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436,668 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in WPP by 50.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,448,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $92,937,000 after buying an additional 824,336 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in WPP by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 253,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,037,000 after buying an additional 115,416 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in WPP by 104.6% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 141,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,272,000 after buying an additional 72,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in WPP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,292,000. 4.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WPP Company Profile

WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies.