Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Announces Share Buyback Program

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.08. 5,974,636 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,899,489. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 1 year low of $26.30 and a 1 year high of $35.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.83. The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 1.11.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is 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.