Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,842,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 828,150 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.81% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $199,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,096,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $459,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516,975 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,922,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,954,000 after buying an additional 777,456 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,604,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,049,000 after buying an additional 255,250 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,516,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,005,000 after buying an additional 154,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 3,797,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,966,000 after buying an additional 153,857 shares during the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IPG shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

NYSE:IPG opened at $31.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.96. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.20 and a 1-year high of $35.17.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 27.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

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.