Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.91.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 546.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth about $37,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $81.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.05. Global Payments has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.