Zacks Research Has Bearish Estimate for IPG Q2 Earnings

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 5th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $0.65 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.77. The consensus estimate for Interpublic Group of Companies’ current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Interpublic Group of Companies’ FY2025 earnings at $2.58 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.66 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.72 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.74 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.81 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.99 EPS.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 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%.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

IPG stock opened at $27.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.53. 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 $26.15 and a 52 week high of $35.17.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

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

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.