Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GPN. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Global Payments from $154.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet raised shares of Global Payments from a c rating to a b- rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $151.92.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $124.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.72. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $95.12 and a 12-month high of $141.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPN. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Global Payments by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 7,387 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,815,000. AFS Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 19,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is 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.