Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Royal Bank of Canada downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating. Royal Bank of Canada now has a $86.00 price target on the stock. Global Payments traded as low as $66.90 and last traded at $67.22, with a volume of 1250931 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.46.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on GPN. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Global Payments from $166.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Global Payments from $156.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $145.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cowen cut shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $345,823,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,298,846 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $929,969,000 after buying an additional 1,659,984 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 75,379.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,517,141 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $148,558,000 after buying an additional 1,515,131 shares in the last quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,695,000. Finally, Focused Investors LLC acquired a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,969,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.12.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.