Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Lowered to Equal Weight Rating by Barclays

Barclays cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has $27.50 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $34.00.

IPG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.72.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG opened at $24.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.24. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $22.51 and a 1 year high of $33.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.21% and a net margin of 4.69%. 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 company posted $0.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $247,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 11,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,271,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $119,695,000 after purchasing an additional 310,621 shares in the last quarter. 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.