Mizuho Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)

Mizuho reissued their neutral rating on shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $129.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GPN. TheStreet raised Global Payments from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Global Payments from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $151.92.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $133.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.67. Global Payments has a twelve month low of $95.12 and a twelve month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Global Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,933,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Global Payments by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,346,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,434 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 338.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,288,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537,941 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter worth $197,875,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Global Payments by 40.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,142,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $591,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.