Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on DLX. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Deluxe in a report on Friday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Deluxe from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th.

Deluxe Price Performance

NYSE:DLX opened at $21.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.27. Deluxe has a 1-year low of $15.79 and a 1-year high of $24.00. The firm has a market cap of $960.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.48.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $535.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $527.45 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 21.33%. Equities research analysts forecast that Deluxe will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.50%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.85%.

Insider Transactions at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 2,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.25 per share, with a total value of $51,320.50. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 173,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,338,142.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Deluxe by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,167,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,406,000 after purchasing an additional 171,998 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Deluxe by 2.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,090,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,047,000 after acquiring an additional 48,067 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Deluxe by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,750,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,548,000 after acquiring an additional 130,357 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Deluxe by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,083,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,471,000 after acquiring an additional 17,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Deluxe by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 584,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,037,000 after acquiring an additional 36,133 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Deluxe

Deluxe Corporation provides technology-enabled solutions to enterprises, small businesses, and financial institutions in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It operates through Merchant Services, B2B Payments, Data Solutions, and Print segments. The Merchant Services offers credit and debit card authorization and payment systems, as well as processing services primarily to small and medium-sized retail and service businesses.