Short Interest in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Declines By 16.3%

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 10,513,295 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the February 12th total of 12,565,607 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,487,775 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,487,775 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Global Payments Trading Down 3.9%

GPN stock traded down $2.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.62. 2,073,663 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,861,324. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $100.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.11.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Global Payments by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 36,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 10,640 shares during the period. Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $4,730,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,428,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,772,000 after buying an additional 404,918 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Dean Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 18,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GPN. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Stephens reduced their price target on Global Payments from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Global Payments to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.36.

Global Payments Company Profile

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.