Factorial Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Key Points

• Factorial Partners LLC increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 8.9% by purchasing an additional 3,500 shares, bringing its total ownership to 42,900 shares.
• Global Payments reported earnings of $2.82 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.73, despite a 0.3% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company declared a $0.25 quarterly dividend, translating to an annualized payment of $1.00 and a yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 16.13%.

Factorial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,900 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. Global Payments makes up approximately 2.6% of Factorial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Factorial Partners LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 546.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 375 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 4,866.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Price Performance

GPN stock traded down $3.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $81.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,434,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,511,954. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.15. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.93 and a 12-month high of $120.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. 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 note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.00.

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.