The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 99,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,481 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $3,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,821 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,076,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 10,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 20,839 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 4,464 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 18.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 457,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,926,000 after purchasing an additional 71,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $29.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,648,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,908,541. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.12. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.20 and a twelve month high of $35.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.10 and its 200 day moving average is $31.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on IPG shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.25.

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.