Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Receives $112.21 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Key Points

• Global Payments Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 29 analysts, with 19 holding and 10 giving a buy rating.
• The company reported earnings of $3.10 per share, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue steady at $2.36 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share has been declared, reflecting a 1.2% yield with a payout ratio of 17.48%.

Shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.2083.

GPN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Global Payments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Global Payments from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th.

Global Payments Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE GPN traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.35. 1,344,702 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,990,322. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $65.93 and a 52-week high of $120.00. The firm has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,787 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 4,118 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,988 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in shares of Global Payments by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 2,693 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. 89.76% of the stock is 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.