By Senad Karaahmetovic
Baird analysts have joined the club of sell-side analysts who reflected positively on Global Payments Global Payments (NYSE:GPN). The analysts upgraded shares to Outperform from Neutral with the price target raised to $156 from $130.
The analysts believe the company has continued to gain market share as Q1 sector trends “seem quite good.”
“We think it’s hard for the Street to ignore EPS growth of mid-teens on a sustained basis at a significantly lower-than-S&P multiple,” the analysts said in a note.
Last week, Goldman Sachs upgraded GPN stock to Buy from Neutral. GS analysts have a $127 per share price target on shares and said they believe the recent underperformance presents a compelling entry point.
“We see the recent selloff as a buying opportunity, and see the risk reward as highly attractive at current levels. We believe the merchant business is poised to sustain somewhat better than feared trends as currency headwinds fade, aided by a stronger start to the year in 1Q23. Additionally, we see the Issuer business sustaining growth rates above the company’s target range (HSD organic in 2023, ~6% in 2024) as the company works through its significant implementation pipeline,” the analysts said in a client note.
Similarly, Barclays analysts also pointed to likely Q1 outperformance in the note published last week. The company is due to report Q1 results on May 1.
GPN stock is up 9.8% year-to-date.