WPP (WPPGY) Merges 2 Operating Businesses To Boost Offerings

WPP (LON:WPP) plc ( (NASDAQ:WPPGY) recently announced the merger of two of its operating agencies, Wunderman and POSSIBLE. Per the merger, POSSIBLE has become part of Wunderman. The deal will help the combined business improve scale, expertise and global reach to better meet the demands of clients. POSSIBLE will continue operating as a standalone brand within Wunderman.

Created in 2011, POSSIBLE is a multi-service digital agency that moves brands by moving people. With an employee base of over 1,500 worldwide, POSSIBLE offers result-driven digital solutions to some of the world's most dynamic brands.

With over 9,200 people in 200 offices in 70 countries, the merged group will form one of the world's largest digital agencies, offering clients access to strategic consultancy, creative talent, technology expertise and data science across all major markets and regions.

Combining both the companies’ deep and diverse capabilities will enable Wunderman deliver better results for its clients.

WPP is one of the largest advertising companies in the world and has accumulated a vast portfolio of global and regional brands and survived the U.S., U.K. and global recessions. It is currently well poised to grow, as the global economy revives with the ushering of a strong momentum in the media and advertising industry worldwide. The primary focus of the company is to grow its revenues and gross margin at a faster rate than the industry average. Its geographically superior position in new markets and functional strength in new media and data investment management will help WPP in achieving steady revenue growth, going forward. However, WPP has underperformed the Zacks categorized Advertising and Marketing industry in the last three months with an average loss of 3.2% compared with a decline of 2.5% for the latter.

WPP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) , Barloworld Limited (OTC:BRRAY) and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

3M has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 9.7%. It surpassed estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 1.3%.

Barloworld has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 17.2%.

Honeywell has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 9.3%. It surpassed estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 2.0%.

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