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Interpublic (IPG) Stock Up 26.2% in a Year: What's Behind It?

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Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG - Free Report) have surged 26.2% over the past year, outperforming the 11.3% decline of the industry it belongs to and 16.3% rise of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Zacks Investment Research
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Let’s delve deeper into factors that have contributed to the company’s price performance.

Dividend Hike

Interpublic's board of directors has announced a dividend hike of 7%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend from 27 cents per share to 29 cents. The raised dividend will be paid on Mar 15, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Mar 1, 2022.

Notably, Interpublic has a consistent record of rewarding its shareholders through dividend payments. In 2021, 2020 and 2019, Interpublic paid $427.7 million, $398.1million and $363.1 million in dividends, respectively. Such moves indicate the company’s commitment to creating value for shareholders and underline its confidence in its business. These initiatives not only instill investor confidence but also positively impact the company’s earnings per share.

Consecutive Earnings & Revenue Beat

Interpublic reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue performance in the last four quarters. The bottom line is likely to have benefitted from improvement in operational metrics. The top line is likely to have been aided by strength in the healthcare, retail, auto and transportation, and technology and telecom sectors, coupled with net client gain.

Other Contributing Factors

Interpublic’s digital capabilities, diverse workforce and geographic reach offer the company a distinct competitive advantage. The company continues to invest in technology and internationalize its digital specialist agencies to keep pace with the rapidly evolving media landscape. It has been enhancing its digital capabilities like search, social, user experience, content creation, analytics and mobile across its portfolio in order to maintain growth in the dynamic sector.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Interpublic currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services sector that investors may consider are Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN - Free Report) , NV5 Global (NVEE - Free Report) and Clean Harbors (CLH - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1.

Cross Country Healthcare has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 41.5%, on average.

Cross Country Healthcare’s shares have surged 73.1% in the past year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 6.5%.

NV5 Global has an expected earnings growth rate of 6.1% for the current year. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 22.2%, on average.

NV5 Global’s shares have surged 44.1% in the past year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 14.2%.

Clean Harbors has an expected earnings growth rate of 17% for the current year. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 43.2%, on average.

Clean Harbors’ shares have surged 25.5% in the past year.

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