Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on GPN. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho reissued a neutral rating and issued a $129.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $151.92.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.0 %

GPN opened at $124.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.19 and its 200 day moving average is $124.65. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $95.12 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.