StockNews.com Lowers Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on OMC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Omnicom Group in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $117.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Omnicom Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Omnicom Group from $106.00 to $104.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $101.33.

Omnicom Group Price Performance

OMC stock opened at $96.76 on Wednesday. Omnicom Group has a 1 year low of $72.20 and a 1 year high of $99.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.24 and a 200 day moving average of $83.40. The company has a market cap of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.04. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 39.07%. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Omnicom Group will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th. Omnicom Group’s payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Linda Johnson Rice sold 507 shares of Omnicom Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $43,936.62. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,753 shares in the company, valued at $845,194.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Omnicom Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OMC. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Omnicom Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,744,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,783,537,000 after purchasing an additional 749,118 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,303,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,083,214,000 after purchasing an additional 337,392 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,434,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $631,076,000 after purchasing an additional 362,985 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Omnicom Group by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,745,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,437,000 after buying an additional 374,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 4,712,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $448,353,000 after purchasing an additional 72,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.97% of the company’s stock.

About Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. It provides a range of services in the areas of advertising and media, precision marketing, commerce and branding, experiential, execution and support, public relations, and healthcare.