Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $130.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on GPN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Global Payments from $152.00 to $125.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Global Payments to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Global Payments Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GPN opened at $110.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.52 and its 200 day moving average is $110.26. 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 market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.98.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.84%.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Global Payments by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,423,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $621,149,000 after buying an additional 4,240,388 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,797,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $639,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,196 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,957,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,307,000 after buying an additional 193,137 shares during the period. Glenview Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 1,948,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,412,000 after buying an additional 100,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its position in Global Payments by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,764,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $224,044,000 after purchasing an additional 14,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.