Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Shares carry a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 23 analysts (2 sell, 16 hold, 4 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 1‑year target price of $86.20.
• Global Payments reported Q EPS of $3.18 (vs. $3.16 expected) on $2.32B revenue and set FY2026 guidance of 13.80–14.00 EPS (sell‑side consensus ~13.75); the stock trades around $67.75 with a PE of 11.7 and a 12‑month range of $62.45–$90.64.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 (annualized yield ~1.5%, payout ratio 17.27%) and about 89.8% of shares are held by institutional investors.

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-three brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.20.

GPN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $87.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock.

Global Payments Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $67.75 on Friday. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $62.45 and a 12-month high of $90.64. The stock has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.38 and a 200 day moving average of $75.70.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.02. Global Payments had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. Global Payments's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments will post 13.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Global Payments's payout ratio is presently 17.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in shares of Global Payments by 242.2% in the 3rd quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 308 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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