LRT Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

LRT Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 120.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,815 shares during the period. Global Payments comprises 2.9% of LRT Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. LRT Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Global Payments by 177.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Global Payments by 374.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 569 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE GPN opened at $80.47 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments Inc. has a one year low of $65.93 and a one year high of $120.00.

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

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cowen cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.09.

Global Payments 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.