Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Board Announces Stock Repurchase Program

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.75.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $26.79 on Thursday. Interpublic Group of Companies has a fifty-two week low of $26.30 and a fifty-two week high of $35.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 1.11.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.