Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Price Target to $150.00

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) had its target price cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $158.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

GPN has been the topic of several other reports. TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Global Payments from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $150.00.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Shares of Global Payments stock opened at $111.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $127.50 and a 200 day moving average of $124.82. Global Payments has a 12 month low of $95.12 and a 12 month high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.01. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 19.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Global Payments during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in Global Payments by 54.5% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 77.7% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% 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.