Interpublic Group +3% after earnings beat, boosts to dividend and buyback

• Q4 earnings (ex-items) of $303.6M or $0.75 per share, up from $0.66 earned a year ago, and ahead of expectations for $0.67.
• Quarterly dividend is boosted 20% to $0.18 per share, bringing the annualized yield to 3.1%.
• 4.8M shares repurchased in Q4 for $110M, or average cost of $22.90 each. Full-year buybacks were 13.3M shares for $303.3M, or average cost of $22.76 each.
• New buyback program of up to $300M of stock is authorized.
• Previously: Interpublic Group of Companies beats by $0.08, revenue in-line (Feb. 10)
• IPG +3.1% premarket