Wall Street Zen Upgrades WPP (NYSE:WPP) to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WPP (NYSE:WPP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WPP. Zacks Research downgraded shares of WPP from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of WPP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of WPP in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of WPP in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WPP has an average rating of “Reduce”.

WPP Stock Down 2.1%

WPP stock opened at $26.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. WPP has a 1-year low of $24.28 and a 1-year high of $57.37.

WPP Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.5033 per share. This represents a yield of 1,060.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. WPP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

Institutional Trading of WPP

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in WPP by 27.2% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,720,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,124,000 after buying an additional 1,436,668 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in WPP by 50.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,448,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,937,000 after buying an additional 824,336 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of WPP by 12.2% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 626,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,930,000 after purchasing an additional 68,271 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of WPP by 10.8% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 470,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,486,000 after purchasing an additional 45,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of WPP by 11.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 283,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 29,388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.34% of the company’s stock.

WPP Company Profile

WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies.