Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $95.76 and last traded at $95.1960, with a volume of 76283 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Global Payments from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $76.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Zacks Research cut Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.92.

Global Payments Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.77 and its 200 day moving average is $73.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of -32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.74.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.02. Global Payments had a negative net margin of 9.16% and a positive return on equity of 13.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 68.6% on a year-over-year basis. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.600-13.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently -33.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 5,795.1% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 57,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after buying an additional 56,212 shares during the last quarter. Gtcr LLC purchased a new position in shares of Global Payments in the 1st quarter worth $2,911,939,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 448,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,683,000 after acquiring an additional 105,500 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,409,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $883,111,000 after acquiring an additional 500,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Global Payments by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,431,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,768,000 after acquiring an additional 227,317 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Company Profile

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.