UBS Group Upgrades Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) to Neutral

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $27.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $29.00. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 0.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on IPG. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $27.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.88. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 52 week low of $26.30 and a 52 week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. On average, research analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $155.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 13,210,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $370,157,000 after purchasing an additional 7,693,636 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $207,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,374,491 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $943,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12,548.6% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,425,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,406,073 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.