Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.23.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GPN. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. BTIG Research downgraded Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Global Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE:GPN opened at $98.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.42. The company has a market cap of $25.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. Global Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Global Payments

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $31,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 154.7% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Global Payments

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.