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

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) declared 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 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Global Payments has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.0% annually over the last three years. Global Payments has a dividend payout ratio of 6.9% indicating that 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPN opened at $104.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.56. Global Payments has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Global Payments will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPN shares. Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $116.00 per share, for a total transaction of $672,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,608. This represents a 15.70 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.