Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Lowered to “Underweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $28.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $34.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on IPG. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $30.27 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Interpublic Group of Companies has a one year low of $27.20 and a one year high of $35.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.26.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IPG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,096,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $459,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516,975 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,620,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 101.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,690,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,162,000 after purchasing an additional 853,287 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,922,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,954,000 after purchasing an additional 777,456 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $20,493,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.