Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $77.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Global Payments traded as low as $66.90 and last traded at $67.22, with a volume of 1250931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.46.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Global Payments from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Global Payments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Williams Trading set a $75.00 target price on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in Global Payments by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 32,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 14,212 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.6% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Global Payments by 22.4% during the third quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Global Payments by 24.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 44,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,547,000 after acquiring an additional 8,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new position in Global Payments in the third quarter worth approximately $253,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Stock Up 5.8 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.18%.

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.