HF Advisory Group LLC Acquires 30,383 Shares of Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC

HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 239.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,383 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Omnicom Group were worth $3,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 15.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,863,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,298,652 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Omnicom Group by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,107,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $660,969,000 after buying an additional 1,893,316 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Omnicom Group by 73.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,652,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $542,376,000 after acquiring an additional 2,820,553 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Omnicom Group in the third quarter worth about $515,145,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Omnicom Group by 6.1% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,132,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,318,000 after purchasing an additional 236,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.97% of the company’s stock.

Omnicom Group Stock Performance

NYSE OMC opened at $75.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.92. The company has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 153.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.71. Omnicom Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.33 and a 1-year high of $87.17.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.58 billion. Omnicom Group had a positive return on equity of 25.65% and a negative net margin of 0.32%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Omnicom Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 653.06%.

Omnicom Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 38.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on OMC. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $87.00) on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Omnicom Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.86.

About Omnicom Group

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.