The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Short Interest Update

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,160,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the October 15th total of 27,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.2 days. Currently, 7.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 73.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 883 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter worth $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 652.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IPG shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BNP Paribas cut Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 7.2 %

Shares of IPG stock opened at $27.09 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.10. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $27.01 and a 1 year high of $35.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.26%.

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.