Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Stock Rating Upgraded by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to a strong sell rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

GPN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on Global Payments from $129.00 to $105.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Global Payments from $124.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. William Blair upgraded Global Payments to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Global Payments from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $140.71.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of GPN opened at $107.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.57. Global Payments has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total value of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Global Payments in the first quarter worth $31,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the first quarter valued at $32,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the second quarter valued at $32,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 54.5% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 154.7% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.