Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.8571.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OMC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Omnicom Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Omnicom Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $87.00) on shares of Omnicom Group in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Omnicom Group from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th.

Omnicom Group Price Performance

NYSE OMC opened at $75.31 on Thursday. Omnicom Group has a 1 year low of $66.33 and a 1 year high of $87.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.73.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.94 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. Omnicom Group had a positive return on equity of 25.65% and a negative net margin of 0.32%.The business’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Omnicom Group will post 8.25 EPS for the current year.

Omnicom Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Omnicom Group’s payout ratio is 653.06%.

Omnicom Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 38.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Omnicom Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Omnicom Group by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,106,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,543,000 after buying an additional 455,192 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Omnicom Group by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 53,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,299,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 122,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,877,000 after acquiring an additional 43,044 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Omnicom Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $666,000. 91.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Omnicom Group Company Profile

Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE: OMC) is a global marketing and corporate communications holding company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1986 through the merger of the BBDO, DDB and Needham Harper agencies, Omnicom has built a portfolio of leading brands and networks serving clients across diverse industries.

The company’s primary business activities encompass advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations, and customer relationship management.