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

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,210,000 shares, a growth 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IPG has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised 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 note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

Insider Activity at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Interpublic Group of Companies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 139.5% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 7,693,636 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $207,439,000 after buying an additional 7,374,491 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,089,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12,548.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $26.47 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $25.93 and a 52 week high of $33.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.63 and its 200 day moving average is $29.30. The company has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.14.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.