Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Given Peer Perform Rating at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research restated their peer perform rating on shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GPN. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Global Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.86.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $71.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.30. Global Payments has a 1-year low of $65.93 and a 1-year high of $127.66. The company has a market cap of $17.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 12.21%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.18%.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter worth $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.