Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

GPN has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.09.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.1 %

GPN opened at $80.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 17.1% during the first quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 2,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Global Payments by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,624,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $159,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,755 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $457,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $393,000. Finally, Factorial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 42,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,201,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.