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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eighteen have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.91.

Several analysts recently issued reports on GPN shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Global Payments from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Global Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $86.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cowen cut Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI began coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Williams Trading set a $75.00 price objective on Global Payments in a research report on Friday, April 18th.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE GPN opened at $78.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.93. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $65.93 and a 1 year high of $120.00. The business's 50-day moving average is $77.11 and its 200 day moving average is $93.83.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 15.48%. Global Payments's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP lifted its position in Global Payments by 495.1% in the 4th quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC bought a new position in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,969,000. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in Global Payments by 88.6% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 892,958 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $100,065,000 after acquiring an additional 419,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Global Payments by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $180,925,000 after acquiring an additional 72,992 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.