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

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

GPN has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Global Payments from $138.00 to $137.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $151.92.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:GPN opened at $127.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.52 billion, a PE ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $95.12 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.58.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 524 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.