The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Short Interest Up 8.0% in December

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,450,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 22,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price target 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:IPG traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $27.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,109,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,438,917. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.83 and its 200-day moving average is $30.06. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $26.30 and a 1 year high of $35.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is currently 62.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. State Street Corp lifted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 571.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,466,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,657,000 after buying an additional 1,248,062 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 19.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,436,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,157,000 after buying an additional 899,332 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 168.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 831,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,186,000 after buying an additional 521,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 177.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 705,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,321,000 after acquiring an additional 451,205 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.