Gotham Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 445,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,394 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Omnicom Group worth $36,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in OMC. Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Omnicom Group by 12.7% in the third quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 24,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Omnicom Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,087,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,677,000 after buying an additional 29,096 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in Omnicom Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 781,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $63,732,000 after buying an additional 299,755 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Omnicom Group in the third quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in Omnicom Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 41,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on OMC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Omnicom Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Omnicom Group from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $87.00) on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Omnicom Group from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.00.

Omnicom Group Stock Performance

Shares of OMC opened at $77.74 on Monday. Omnicom Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.33 and a 1 year high of $87.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.10. The company has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.66, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last released 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 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 was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current year.

Omnicom Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 38.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Omnicom Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 653.06%.

Omnicom Group 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.