Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 7,977 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,977 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IPG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $23.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.48.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Interpublic Group of Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies 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.