Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Global Payments in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $80.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $90.00 to $76.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.40.

Global Payments Stock Performance

GPN stock opened at $67.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.76. Global Payments has a 1 year low of $62.45 and a 1 year high of $90.64.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $0.02. Global Payments had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. Global Payments’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.800-14.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Global Payments will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 17.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at $725,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Global Payments during the first quarter worth $243,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 43.5% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 4,386 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 41,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 236.6% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 28,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,291,000 after purchasing an additional 20,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.