Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) vs. TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) Critical Review

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) and TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Interpublic Group of Companies has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TechTarget has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Interpublic Group of Companies and TechTarget, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Interpublic Group of Companies	0	6	3	0	2.33
TechTarget	2	1	3	0	2.17

Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus price target of $32.18, indicating a potential upside of 25.23%. TechTarget has a consensus price target of $11.25, indicating a potential upside of 130.06%. Given TechTarget’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe TechTarget is more favorable than Interpublic Group of Companies.

Profitability

This table compares Interpublic Group of Companies and TechTarget’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Interpublic Group of Companies	4.27%	28.72%	6.22%
TechTarget	-252.96%	-21.56%	-13.65%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.4% of Interpublic Group of Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of TechTarget shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Interpublic Group of Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of TechTarget shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Interpublic Group of Companies and TechTarget”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Interpublic Group of Companies	$10.21 billion	0.91	$689.50 million	$1.47	17.48
TechTarget	$446.51 million	0.79	-$116.86 million	($1.73)	-2.83

Interpublic Group of Companies has higher revenue and earnings than TechTarget. TechTarget is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Interpublic Group of Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Interpublic Group of Companies beats TechTarget on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Integrated Advertising & Creativity Led Solutions segment offers advertising, corporate, and brand identity services; and strategic consulting under FCB, IPG Health, McCann Worldgroup, and MullenLowe Group brands. Specialized Communications & Experiential Solutions segment provides public relations and other specialized communications services, live events, sports and entertainment marketing, and strategic consulting under IPG DXTRA Health, The Weber Shandwick Collective, Golin, Jack Morton, Momentum, and Octagon brand names. The company was formerly known as McCann-Erickson Incorporated and changed its name to The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. in January 1961. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About TechTarget

TechTarget, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marketing and sales services that deliver business impact for business-to-business technology companies in North America and internationally. The company's service enables technology vendors to identify, reach, and influence corporate information technology (IT) decision-makers actively researching specific IT purchases; and customized marketing programs that integrate demand generation, brand advertising techniques, and content curation and creation. It offers business to business services, such as IT Deal Alert, a suite of data, software, and services comprising Priority Engine and Qualified Sales Opportunities to identify and prioritize accounts and individuals actively researching new technology purchases or upgrades; demand solutions provides marketing programs, including white papers, webcasts, podcasts, videocasts, virtual trade shows, and content sponsorships; brand solutions which includes on-network banner advertising and digital sponsorships, off-network banner targeting, and microsites and related formats; custom content creation that delivers market insights and guidance to technology companies and off-the-shelf editorial sponsorship products on topics aligned to customer markets; and BrightTALK platform which allows customers to create, host and promote webinars, virtual events, and video content. In addition, the company operates websites, webinars, and virtual event channels that focus on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security, or networking; and enables registered members to conduct their pre-purchase research by accessing vendor supplied content through its virtual event and webinar channels, and website networks. TechTarget, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.