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

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. William Blair raised shares of Global Payments to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $110.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $91.60 and a 1 year high of $141.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.13.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 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, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 82,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,499,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 12.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 267,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,775,000 after acquiring an additional 29,289 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 8.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 302,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,414,000 after acquiring an additional 24,415 shares during 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.