The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Sold by City Center Advisors LLC

City Center Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,792 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,577 shares during the quarter. City Center Advisors LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IPG. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on IPG shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG stock opened at $23.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.06. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

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.