The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Short Interest Up 43.6% in February

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,210,000 shares, an increase of 43.6% from the February 13th total of 23,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 9.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on IPG. 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.50.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 13,210,446 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $370,157,000 after acquiring an additional 7,693,636 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $207,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,374,491 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $943,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12,548.6% during the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,425,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $67,955,000 after buying an additional 2,406,073 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $26.45. The stock had a trading volume of 5,048,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,503,121. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Interpublic Group of Companies has a one year low of $25.85 and a one year high of $33.29. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $27.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.18. The stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 1.14.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

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.