Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) to Equal Weight

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $34.00 price target on the business services provider's stock, up from their prior price target of $26.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on IPG. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.71.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of IPG stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.41. 14,260,145 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,214,641. The company has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 12 month low of $26.88 and a 12 month high of $35.17. The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.40.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is 62.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. State Street Corp grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $943,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position 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 buying an additional 34,965 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 16.2% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 532,100 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,479,000 after buying an additional 74,200 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the second quarter valued at about $605,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the second quarter worth about $873,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

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.