Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp lowered Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.37.

Global Payments Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $87.50 on Thursday. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $120.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 15.07%.The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Global Payments’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thomasville National Bank increased its holdings in Global Payments by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 17,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 51,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Global Payments by 7.9% in the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Payments Company Profile

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.