The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Receives $39.90 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG – Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.90.

IPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 11th. Bank of America downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

In related news, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.03, for a total transaction of $1,369,140.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dawn E. Hudson sold 18,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total value of $596,301.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,880 shares in the company, valued at $1,066,956. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,094 shares of company stock valued at $3,534,689 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 25,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 13,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Norwood Financial Corp now owns 2,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IPG opened at $31.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.25. The firm has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.99. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $27.67 and a 1 year high of $39.98.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 9.67% and a return on equity of 31.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 21st. Investors of record on Monday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

About Interpublic Group of Companies (Get Rating)

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. It operates in two segments, Integrated Agency Networks (IAN) and IPG DXTRA. The company offers consumer advertising, digital marketing, communications planning and media buying, public relations, and specialized communications disciplines, as well as data science services.

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