Interpublic Group of Companies Receives a Hold from Pivotal Research

In a report released today, Brian Wieser from Pivotal Research maintained a Hold rating on Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG), with a price target of $25. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $23.59.

Wieser noted:

“We believe that a key source of the difference relates to Omnicom’s principal trading activities which may be booked as revenue even with the new accounting definitions (Omnicom’s gross and net revenue are nearly identical vs. a 10% difference at Publicis, an 18% difference at Interpublic and a 21% difference at WPP). From press releases and other published sources, we know that Omnicom’s barter agency Icon has claimed to place around $1.5bn in media annually. A small amount of last year’s revenue would have been recorded through April 2017 because of Novus (a print media-focused buying agency which evidently booked its media trading as revenue). And then there is OmNet, which engages in principal trading of traditional media and so far as we can tell from various Linkedin profiles, it continues to expand around the world.”

According to TipRanks.com, Wieser is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 11.1% and a 74.4% success rate. Wieser covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Nielsen Holdings, 21st Century Fox, and Discovery Comms.

Currently, the analyst consensus on Interpublic Group of Companies is Hold and the average price target is $25.33, representing a 7.4% upside.

In a report issued on April 29, Wells Fargo also maintained a Hold rating on the stock with a $26 price target.

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Based on Interpublic Group of Companies’ latest earnings report for the quarter ending March 31, the company posted quarterly revenue of $2.17 billion and GAAP net loss of $14.1 million. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $1.75 billion and had a net profit of $21.5 million.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 31 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock.

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Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc. engages in the provision of advertising and marketing services. It specializes in consumer advertising, digital marketing, communications planning and media buying, public relations and specialized communications disciplines. It operates through the Integrated Agency Network and Constituency Management Group segments.