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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.43.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Cowen downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Global Payments from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.7%

GPN opened at $82.37 on Friday. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $65.93 and a fifty-two week high of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 75,379.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,517,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $148,558,000 after buying an additional 1,515,131 shares in the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $147,695,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments in the 1st quarter valued at $94,107,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.