Palouse Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 698 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 989,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,281,000 after buying an additional 129,215 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,620,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 305.6% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 54,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 40,785 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,187,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,532,000 after purchasing an additional 34,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 68.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 121,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,949,000 after purchasing an additional 48,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $31.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.96. 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 company has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.10. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.20 and a 12 month high of $35.17.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.98% and a net margin of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Interpublic Group of Companies’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IPG. UBS Group cut Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. 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 research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

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.