Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) Declares $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the business services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Global Payments has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.0% per year over the last three years. Global Payments has a dividend payout ratio of 6.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Global Payments to earn $12.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.3%.

Global Payments Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GPN stock opened at $105.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.53. The company has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.94%. Research analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Global Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.18.

Insider Transactions at Global Payments

In other news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.