Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) from an underperform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. BNP Paribas currently has $38.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on IPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $26.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.10. Interpublic Group of Companies has a fifty-two week low of $26.60 and a fifty-two week high of $35.17.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 62.26%.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,993,000 after buying an additional 3,920,975 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,426,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $393,064,000 after acquiring an additional 270,857 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,449,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,107,000 after purchasing an additional 81,265 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,842,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $199,063,000 after purchasing an additional 828,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.5% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,710,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,117,000 after purchasing an additional 193,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company Profile

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.