Scoop up or Unload? Quant Update on The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Here we will take a look at several key ratios for The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG), starting with the Book to Market (BTM) ratio. Value investors seek stocks with high BTMs for their portfolios.  The ratio is a comparison of the firm’s net asset value per share to it’s current price.  This is helpful in determining how the market values the company compared to it’s actual worth.  The Book to Market value of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. currently stands at 0.273059. 

Technical traders may be following indicators to help spot possible entry and exit points. The two main types of indicators are lagging and leading. The leading indicator precedes stock price movements which can be used as a predictor. Lagging indicators may be used as confirmation as they follow price action. Lagging indicators may be highly useful when the market is trending, and leading indicators may be the strongest when the market is moving sideways. Indicators that stay within a certain range are referred to as oscillators. These common indicators are usually monitored for trading signals when the reading gets close to a specific level. 

In terms of EBITDA Yield, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) currently has a value of 0.097608. This value is derived by dividing EBITDA by Enterprise Value.

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) presently has a current ratio of 1.01. The current ratio, also known as the working capital ratio, is a liquidity ratio that displays the proportion of current assets of a business relative to the current liabilities. The ratio is simply calculated by dividing current liabilities by current assets. The ratio may be used to provide an idea of the ability of a certain company to pay back its liabilities with assets. Typically, the higher the current ratio the better, as the company may be more capable of paying back its obligations.

The Price to book ratio is the current share price of a company divided by the book value per share.  The Price to Book ratio for The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. NYSE:IPG is 3.662211.  A lower price to book ratio indicates that the stock might be undervalued.  Similarly, Price to cash flow ratio is another helpful ratio in determining a company’s value.  The Price to Cash Flow for The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) is 15.509474.  This ratio is calculated by dividing the market value of a company by cash from operating activities.  Additionally, the price to earnings ratio is another popular way for analysts and investors to determine a company’s profitability.  The price to earnings ratio for The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) is 14.161260. This ratio is found by taking the current share price and dividing by earnings per share.

Traders using technical analysis typically believe that all the needed information to trade a specific stock can be spotted in the charts. These traders are generally taking a shorter-term view when studying the market. Technical analysts are usually striving to spot the directional trend of a stock. Trends may be noted as upward, downward, or sideways. Many technicians will rely heavily on support and resistance levels in order to make informed decisions when buying and selling equities. These traders are also closely watching volume levels to help gauge activity. Traders are constantly searching for patterns in the charts. There are many different identifiable patterns that traders can look for. Some of these include head and shoulders, triangles, and double tops/bottoms.

Looking at some ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) numbers, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)’s ROIC is 0.679840. The ROIC 5 year average is 0.738062 and the ROIC Quality ratio is 7.764510. ROIC is a profitability ratio that measures the return that an investment generates for those providing capital. ROIC helps show how efficient a firm is at turning capital into profits. 

Free Cash Flow Growth (FCF Growth) is the free cash flow of the current year minus the free cash flow from the previous year, divided by last year’s free cash flow.  The FCF Growth of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) is 0.284133.  Free cash flow (FCF) is the cash produced by the company minus capital expenditure.  This cash is what a company uses to meet its financial obligations, such as making payments on debt or to pay out dividends.  The Free Cash Flow Score (FCF Score) is a helpful tool in calculating the free cash flow growth with free cash flow stability – this gives investors the overall quality of the free cash flow.  The FCF Score of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) is 0.780051.  Experts say the higher the value, the better, as it means that the free cash flow is high, or the variability of free cash flow is low or both.

The Gross Margin Score is calculated by looking at the Gross Margin and the overall stability of the company over the course of 8 years.  The score is a number between one and one hundred (1 being best and 100 being the worst).  The Gross Margin Score of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) is 34.00000.  The more stable the company, the lower the score.  If a company is less stable over the course of time, they will have a higher score.

At the time of writing, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) has a Piotroski F-Score of 7. The F-Score may help discover companies with strengthening balance sheets. The score may also be used to spot the weak performers. Joseph Piotroski developed the F-Score which employs nine different variables based on the company financial statement. A single point is assigned to each test that a stock passes. Typically, a stock scoring an 8 or 9 would be seen as strong. On the other end, a stock with a score from 0-2 would be viewed as weak.

Shifting gears, we can see that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) has a Q.i. Value of 27.00000. The Q.i. Value ranks companies using four ratios. These ratios consist of EBITDA Yield, FCF Yield, Liquidity, and Earnings Yield. The purpose of the Q.i. Value is to help identify companies that are the most undervalued. Typically, the lower the value, the more undervalued the company tends to be.

Watching some historical volatility numbers on shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG), we can see that the 12 month volatility is presently 28.921600. The 6 month volatility is 28.846300, and the 3 month is spotted at 23.146300. Following volatility data can help measure how much the stock price has fluctuated over the specified time period. Although past volatility action may help project future stock volatility, it may also be vastly different when taking into account other factors that may be driving price action during the measured time period.

Many new investors may be frantically researching the best way to study the stock market. It is hard to say with any certainty which approach will work out the best. Traders may tend to gravitate towards studying the technical, while longer-term investors may be more likely to use fundamental analysis. Of course, many individuals will opt to use a combination of both. Determining the individual risk tolerance and time horizon can play a big part in deciding which way to tackle the market. Short-term trading can be highly risky and may not be suitable for certain individuals. Long-term investing may be the favored way to get into the stock market, but this may vary from person to person. Investment strategies can range from super simple to ultra complex. The one thing that most stock market followers would agree on is that there is rarely any substitution for hard work, dedication, and putting in the required hours of study.